josh mccown won the right to suffer at the hands of the NFL's elite this season. The veteran quarterback was officially named the Week 1 starting quarterback of the New York Jets on Monday. He won the job by default, more than anything, but it was the expected result since the day he signed with the team in March. His next responsibility will be to make sure the Jets don't lose all 16 games they play this season.
Jets hand veteran the job
Jets head coach Todd Bowles made the decision on Monday, ahead of the team's final preseason game. Starters generally don't play during the final preseason game, so McCown may not just have a starting job in the NFL -- he also may have the week off, to avoid an injury.
He's the team's fourth opening day starting quarterback in six years; the other three (Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick) are all backups for other NFL franchises.
The two other competitors for the job were Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty. Hackenberg was hailed as the heir apparent, but struggled to lead the offense to points during the preseason, forcing Bowles' hand. Petty arguably outplayed Hackenberg before suffering a knee injury during Saturday's game against the New York Giants. It's not expected to be serious, but it all but ended his opportunity to beat out McCown for the job, despite seeing some playing time for the Jets last season.
McCown a starter again
Since entering the league in 2002, McCown has seemingly played for nearly every team in the league.
He was a starter for the Arizona Cardinals, backup for the Detroit Lions, starter for the Oakland Raiders, backup for the Carolina Panthers, and a starter again for the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and most recently, the Cleveland Browns. The Jets could very well be the last stop for the 38-year-old quarterback.
His job isn't to light the world on fire this season.
The Jets are expected to be terrible, perhaps with one of the worst offenses in the history of the league. McCown's job is to try to keep the offense afloat long enough to give the defense some rest from time to time. If he can help in the development of the team's multitude of young wide receivers, that would also be helpful.
He has just ten more career touchdowns than career interceptions, so expectations need to be kept relatively low. For Jets fans, however, that should not be a major issue in a season that is expected to rival the worst in franchise history.
