Dan Leberfeld Shoots From The Hip
NY Jets Confidential|April 2017

Dan Leberfeld Shoots From The Hip

Dan Leberfeld Shoots From The Hip

Should Mac be more upset at Hack Attack?

There was a sleazy story late in the season I never got around to addressing. And I want to. Some people devoid of virtue leaked some cheap shots to ESPN’s Adam Schefter about quarterback Christian Hackenberg.

Schefter quoted an anonymous Jets coach who clearly doesn’t have a lot of integrity, saying, “Christian Hackenberg couldn’t hit the ocean” with a football. Other ethically challenged team officials, according to Schefter, said Hackenberg actually “regressed” during the season.

Talk about totally unprofessional. What a bunch of dirty rotten scoundrels.

Look, I’m not dismissing the premise of what the unnamed sources said. Honestly, I can’t tell you whether Hackenberg regressed during the season. Why? Because the media only gets to watch the first half hour of each practice during the season, and it is mostly special teams.

So I really didn’t see him in practice once the season started.

Hackenberg had to stand in front of his locker at the end of the season and answer questions about the words of these unnamed miscreants.

He actually showed more maturity than the unnamed sources.

If GM Mike Maccagnan was playing ball with Schefter, this story probably wouldn’t have appeared. However, when you don’t give the insiders scoops, you are open to getting ripped. People generally don’t rip their sources. And Hackenberg getting blasted on ESPN was an indirect shot at Maccagnan, who drafted him.

Did Schefter have unnamed people ripping Los Angeles Rams rookie QB Jared Goff who was awful last season? Perhaps. I didn’t see it. Maybe Les Snead is more cooperative than Maccagnan. I suspect he is.

But you know what bothers me as much as the cowards taking shots at a 22-year-old developmental QB? The lack of outward anger from the Jets about the leaks.

This story is from the April 2017 edition of NY Jets Confidential.

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This story is from the April 2017 edition of NY Jets Confidential.

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