By Connor Hughes | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Assessing Christian Hackenberg's play on the second day of Jets' minicamp. Did the second-year quarterback look good, or struggle?

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AP Photo

How'd Hackenberg look?

FLORHAM PARK — The two plays perfectly summed up the development of polarizing Jets passer Christian Hackenberg. The up-and-down maturation of a young quarterback learning to play the game.

The first? In the red zone, Hackenberg fired a rocket over the middle to tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Reserve safety Rontez Miles read the play, jumped the pass, but dropped the easy interception. It was ugly. Really, really ugly.

The second? On the very next play, Hackenberg lofted a stunning 15-yard touch pass to Eli McGuire on a wheel route. The rookie running back reached out, and right as he crossed the goal line, Hackenberg's throw landed right in his hands for the score.

From a terrible, to perfect. Two plays telling two completely different stories.

Thus is the roller coaster ride of Hackenberg's performances this offseason. Is he perfect? No, but he's getting better. And the Jets certainly aren't complaining.

"He's growing everyday," quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates said. "We look forward to seeing him come out to two-a-days and get better everyday. I think he's throwing the ball well."

Want a complete review of Hackenberg's minicamp outing on Wednesday? Let's get to it.

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WHERE HE WORKED

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The Jets are allowed to practice longer during minicamp, as opposed to OTAs. So the two-field approach is over. All teams drills are on one field — that closest to reporters — with rehab-area guys working on the far. Hackenberg (just like everyone else) received all reps on the one field. No need to take out the binoculars to observe his play.

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Cleveland 2.0?

The Jets don't see it that way

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WHEN HE WORKED

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Coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday the Jets will keep the same quarterback rotation throughout minicamp. He wasn't lying. On Wednesday, Josh McCown went first, followed by Christian Hackenberg, and then Bryce Petty. Hackenberg did get a series with the starting offense against the starting defense in a two-minute drill. We'll get to that in a bit.

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THE STATS

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While these stats aren't official, they provide a glimpse into his reps and performance.

Hackenberg received 21 reps in team drills. He likely would have had more if his two-minute drill (three plays) and drive-the-field drill (four plays) extended with first downs. He completed 7 of 16 passes with a touchdown, near interception (as referenced in lede) and two sacks.

Through two minicamps, Hackenberg is 18 of 30 with two touchdowns, an interception and four sacks.

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Practice observations

How'd those other than Hackenberg look?

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INDIVIDUAL DRILLS

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Much has been made about Hackenberg's inaccuracies in individual drills this offseason. He was just fine on Wednesday. Of Hackenberg's 24 attempts, just two were off. Receivers dropped — blatant drops — four on-target passes. Can't fault Hackenberg for those.

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IN THE RED ZONE

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Hackenberg struggled mightily in the red zone drill back on June 6th (an OTA practice). He was much better on Wednesday, but there are still some concerns. When the field gets tighter, Hackenberg seems to struggle a bit more than usual.

He threw four passes in the red zone on Wednesday. He misfired on two, had a near interception, then threw the picture-perfect touchdown to Eli McGuire.

Things are much faster in the red zone. You've got so many players in a tight space. As Hackenberg gets more comfortable with John Morton's offense, things will continue to slow down. This should improve his play in this area of the field.

Note: These are just minicamp practices. Do not read too much into this.

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Rookie wideouts ailing?

Stewart, Hansen still sidelined as minicamp rolls on

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TWO-MINUTE DRILL

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On Tuesday, Josh McCown received the two-minute drill work with the starters. On Wednesday, it was Hackenberg. It was the first time — by my count — he worked with the starting offense against the starting defense this summer.

The drive was a quick one for Hackenberg. It started with 2:17 on the clock, and the offense "punted" with 1:40. Matt Forte took a handoff on first down. Hackenberg bounced a pass to Forte in the flat on second. And on third, defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson came shooting up the middle on a stunt for a would-be sack.

Not terribly sure why the Jets started the drive with a run. It put the offense at a disadvantage from the start. Maybe Hackenberg checked to it, maybe he didn't? We're not in the huddle to get the offensive calls.

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AN ACTUAL DRIVE

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For the first time in minicamp, the Jets played sorta-kinda football. The offense received an opportunity to drive the field and attempt to score. They started with a 1st-and-10 at their own 20. They worked their way up the field until the defense forced a turnover, punt, or the offense scored.

Hackenberg's drive started well. He hit Robby Anderson for a first down up the right sideline with a beautiful throw. Things went downhill after.

Hackenberg sailed a pass to a receiver over the middle, then missed tight end Jordan Leggett on a drag. On third down, he took a sack when (I believe) linebacker Julian Stanford blitzed.

The only quarterback to fair well in this drill was Bryce Petty. He took the reserve offense down the field against the third-string defense. The drive ended with a touchdown pass to fullback Julian Howsare.

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OVERALL ASSESSMENT

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Hackenberg wasn't as good Wednesday as he was Tuesday, but looked better than he did in OTAs.

Does that make sense?

The quarterback is still going through growing pains. There are moments he looks very good, and other times he looks bad. The accuracy issues still pop up time and time again, but Hackenberg is showing legitimate improvements.

Here's the main struggle I observed: When the defense takes away his first read, there seems to be a slight hesitation before he knows where to go next. This leads to some technical breakdowns (poor footwork, decision making). On Wednesday, it resulted in two sacks.

This is likely due to Hackenberg still learning John Morton's offense. As the scheme becomes second nature, so will Hackenberg's thought process. It just takes time. No need to worry much about this now.

It's silly to grade performances in minicamp, but thus is the day and age we live in. If Hackenberg finished with a B-plus on Tuesday, Wednesday was likely more of a C.

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