Todd Bowles Won’t Reveal Starters and Backups at Certain Positions for the Jets vs. Bills

We are just a few days from the start of the regular season. As the Jets prepare for their game against the Buffalo Bills, head coach Todd Bowles is keeping us in the dark about who will take certain roles including starting tackle and backup quarterback as noted by Connor Hughes.

The Jets' third-year coach said he wouldn't name his backup quarterback, starting offensive tackles or starting linebackers this week. Bowles cited "strategic things" for the secrecy of the tackle and linebacker positions. He added naming a backup quarterback is "not important" at this point.

"[Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg] are both taking reps," Bowles said of the quarterbacks. "I'll make a decision sometime this weekend."

Secrecy about minor details like this is common for NFL head coaches. They don’t want to give their opponent any edge.

Of course, one might ask what sort of edge the Bills would get in knowing that Petty is the backup over Hackenberg or vice versa, and I don’t think there’s a good answer for that. While there are certain things a team should not telegraph in public these matters frequently reach a point of silliness, and this is one such example.

The Jets aren’t the first team to treat depth chart decisions like matters of national security, and they won’t be the last.