Jets head coach Todd Bowles, in the relaxed setting of this morning's coaches' breakfast at the Orlando owners' meetings, fielded questions from reporters on a variety of topics, many of them quarterback-related. Here are 11 responses Bowles had for some of those QB queries, about players currently on the roster as well as possibly arriving in the draft:
On how he feels at this moment about his quarterback position ..."I feel good. We wanted Josh [McCown] back anyway, and there's the addition of Teddy [Bridgewater] to see what he can do, and we've got the two young guys [Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg], so I feel pretty good about it."
On if he has a QB depth chart heading into the spring and into training camp ..."Josh will go into it as the starter, and by the end of training camp we'll see who the starter is. There's competition at every position, even with the two young safeties or whether it's Leonard Williams or anybody else. ... Nobody can go in and say they're going to be the starter on day one. If they're not performing well enough, they won't be the starter at the end of August. And that goes for every position. That hasn't changed since I've been here."
On what more he can say about McCown's leadership abilities..."He has very good leadership skills. I've been around some and he falls right in line with some of the best I've been around."
On if he saw the recent video of McCown dunking off an alley-oop at a charity basketball game..."I did not. I'm sorry I missed it. I'm not a video guy. What'd he do? He dunked? I've kind of seen LeBron dunk every night. Unless he's doing something amazing ... But I know Josh is a good athlete. I've heard stories of him being a very good basketball player. That does not surprise me. [Then after being shown the video] He can play ball. I've heard the stories. The legend continues."
On what he expects out of Bridgewater, signed as an unrestricted free agent ..."I just want to see him throw. We want him to be healthy and we want him to throw. I expect him to throw this spring and then we'll go from there."
On Hackenberg's Jets future..."He's a quarterback on our team. Again, everybody's subject to competition, to earn the job or not earn the job. Christian's on our team, and regardless of who we bring in or how we bring them in, the competition's got to be there for everybody."
On if the Jets would have too many QBs on the roster if they select one high in the draft..."We'll get a good player in the draft. If it happens to be five, when it's time to make decisions, we'll make them. But right now we have our guys that we have."
On if he has a preference among the QBs in the draft ..."I think all of them coming out can throw the football very well, so it'll be tough decision. Whoever takes what, we'll pick a good football player with our pick and go from there."
On what the Jets would be looking for in the QB they could take third overall ..."Like every position, we're looking for character guys, we're looking for leadership, obviously confidence. It takes a different kind of guy to play in New York, whether it's quarterback, center, linebacker. We're looking for all those types of things."
On if a first-round QB would need some Joe Namath swagger to succeed with the Jets ..."Personality's a good thing, along with skill and accuracy, But it's a good thing for every position to have."
On if the QB is the most important piece to the offensive and team puzzle going forward..."It starts with you've got to have a complete team. You can have a quarterback on a bad team, you can have a quarterback on a good team, but you've got to have a complete team effort. And to be a good team, you've got to win games a lot of different ways, whether its turnovers, special teams, the running game, in addition to the quarterback. So I would say no, it's not just the quarterback. You've got to be a complete team if you're trying to win this division."
