If Thursday's preseason game was Christian Hackenberg's only appearance in an Eagles uniform, it was a mostly forgettable performance.
Yet afterward Hackenberg seemed satisfied. It was his first NFL game in 364 days, or nearly a full calendar year.
The 23-year-old signal caller just wanted to get back on the field.
"Honestly, it felt good to get back out and play," Hackenberg said from the locker room after the Eagles' 10-9 win over the Jets (see Roob's 10 observations). "There's some things that obviously I'm a little disappointed with, want to have back, but overall there's a lot of good takeaways there for me."
Going strictly by conventional wisdom, you run the risk of straining your eyes to find those positives. Hackenberg completed 7 of 16 pass attempts for 69 yards with two interceptions for a dismal 16.9 passer rating in roughly two quarters of action. He was also sacked twice and lost a fumble.
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It was sloppy. Then again, what do you expect? Hackenberg knows he'll be cut in less than 48 hours (see story). This was all about feeling the rhythm of an actual football game again.
"It's just about the process," Hackenberg said. "There's a lot of things that go into it, a lot of people don't understand, but for me, just taking little wins out of this game, things that went well, and then learn from things that didn't do so well."
And looking back on it, there were some little wins.
After some initial struggles, of course.
Hackenberg's evening got off to a rough start. The rust was evident on his opening series, taking a sack on the very first snap, followed by a delay of game penalty two plays later. The possession ended shortly thereafter on an interception - an apparent miscommunication with Eagles receiver Rashard Davis.
The second possession was a three-and-out. The third was another pick, this time badly overthrowing Eagles wideout Greg Ward on a shallow cross.
"That was just a clean miss," Hackenberg said. "That was bad. That was one of those things that happens and wish you could have back."
It wasn't until his fourth series Hackenberg found his footing, leading a two-minute drive from his own 1-yard line to the Jets' 20 before time expired in the first half. He emerged from the locker room and led the Eagles on a nine-play, 38-yard march that concluded with a field goal.
Hackenberg looked sharper on those series, his success keyed by an unlikely attribute - running with the football.
"I tried to tell people I was an athlete even going back to school," Hackenberg said smiling. "It was one of those things where it presented itself. Started moving the ball a little bit with that, and then I think that helped everything else."
Not known for his speed, Hackenberg finished with 66 yards on five rushes.
After another three-and-out, scrambling eventually got him into trouble. Hackenberg's night was done after a collision with Jets safety J.J. Wilcox led to his third turnover.
Still, it wasn't a terrible outing overall, especially considering he signed with the Eagles only a little more than two weeks ago.
"I thought there were some good things," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. "Obviously, the turnovers are things we can't do from the quarterback position. It was unfortunate there at the end of the half, Christian had a really nice drive going to at least maybe get three, but we just ran out of time."
Coincidentally, Hackenberg's last NFL game was also at Lincoln Financial Field. The former second-round draft pick out of Penn State was released by the Jets following the 2017 season, then signed by the Raiders only to be cut again before the conclusion of training camp.
Hackenberg has never played in the regular season.
It remains to be seen what's next for Hackenberg, who will be among the Eagles' cuts as the club trims its roster to 53 before the 4 p.m. deadline Saturday. Regardless, he got what he wanted here - an opportunity to learn, and most of all, to play.
"Just get back into the flow of things was a big thing for me and that felt great," Hackenberg said.
