MEMPHIS — When football players don’t produce enough positive results, they get replaced sooner or later.

Right? Well, yeah — usually.

Memphis Express coach Mike Singletary said it’s not always that simple, though.

Two games into his Alliance of American Football career, Christian Hackenberg has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. The 24-year-old is seventh in passing yards (189) and has yet to throw for a touchdown under circumstances that favor offensive production. His completion percentage (50.0) is seventh among quarterbacks with at least 25 attempts.

The bottom line — the Express are 0-2 — isn’t helping Hackenberg’s cause much, either.

As the Express get set to make the trip to play at Orlando (7 p.m. Saturday, NFL Network) to face Steve Spurrier’s Apollos (2-0), Singletary and company are faced with the “chicken or the egg” argument: Are we the problem, or is it Hackenberg?

“It’s a very delicate balance between really being excited about (Hackenberg’s) growth and, at the same time, trying to do all the things we can to expedite it,” Singletary said. “We still have to do a good job of continuing to find out what makes him comfortable, what he likes. And, at the same time, what we have to do to grow our offense and expand it.”

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While Hackenberg has struggled, he showed signs of improvement — a “considerable” amount, Singletary said — from one game (a 26-0 shutout at Birmingham) to the next (a 20-18 home loss to Arizona). Fewer interceptions (0), more passing yards (102), more completions (14), more rushing yards (39) and his first touchdown (a 4-yard run).

Hackenberg, like every quarterback, has dealt with his share of drops by wide receivers. And the offensive line charged with protecting him hasn’t exactly been very good at that. Last week, against the Hotshots, Hackenberg was sacked four times, resulting in a loss of 41 yards. The week before, he was sacked twice.

After the season-opening loss, Hackenberg asserted his confidence was not shaken despite the lackluster showing. He remained steadfast after last week's game.

"We've got to go back and continue to look at ourselves," he said. "Make some corrections and start building some things off what we do well. That's what it comes down to — pushing forward and taking the silver linings. I know that's clichè and what you guys are all used to hearing, but we've just got to keep getting better."

The spotlight always shines brightest on the quarterback, in good times or bad. While Singletary understands that, he isn’t ready to pull the plug. Not yet, anyway.

“We can only take it a step at a time,” he said. “(If Hackenberg struggles against the Apollos), we’re not going to be hesitant (to make a change). But, at the same time, we’re not going to have a knee-jerk response as well. We have to do everything we can to try and bring Christian up to the point where he feels comfortable in the offense we’re running.

“We’ll see how big a step he takes from one week to the next.”