#Chris Hogan’s Jets practice highlight was first step in proving himself

Chris Hogan has two Super Bowl rings. He has played in nine playoff games and three Super Bowls. He once had nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns in the AFC Championship game. He had six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown in one Super Bowl. His résumé does not lack big-game experience.

So you might think scoring a touchdown during a mid-August practice on a mild New Jersey morning would not hold much significance for him.

You’d be wrong.

Now, no one is saying Hogan’s short touchdown catch from backup quarterback Mike White on Thursday in his second practice with the Jets is a career highlight, but it meant something for Hogan, who signed with the team this week.

“This is a new team,” Hogan said. “These guys, they might know my name and they might have played against me and whatever they think of me, I still have something to prove to these guys. This is a whole new group of guys that I’ve never been around. For me, every single day, all I really want to do is show them that I’m going to show up to work every single day, and I’m going to work as hard as I can.”

So far, the Jets are impressed with what Hogan has shown them. The 32-year-old spent this offseason waiting for his phone to ring as a free agent. It finally did last weekend when the Jets lost two receivers to injury and began to look for replacements. They brought in Hogan, who has now spent time with every AFC East team.

Jets fans will remember his years in Buffalo and New England, where he put up some big numbers. He also spent a short time in Miami at the beginning of his career and had a brief star turn on “Hard Knocks” when the show featured him and revealed his nickname was “7-11,” as in he was always open.

“I think coach [Adam] Gase called me ‘7-11’ the other day,” Hogan said with a laugh. “The myth, the legend from Miami. He was down there and I guess they’re still talking about it. This is what I tell people: If they’re still calling me 7-11, I probably still have a job. If they stop calling me that, I might not be in the league anymore.”

Hogan might have been wondering if he would get another chance to play this season after a rough year with the Panthers in 2019. He suffered a knee injury that limited him to seven games. He had eight catches for 67 yards.

“I had very high expectations for that season,” Hogan said. “It was tough getting injured, and the way that whole season went down wasn’t the way I wanted it to go. That’s football, that’s life. Things happen. For a while there I was angry, I was frustrated about it.”

Hogan said he got to work immediately this offseason, taking just a week off after Carolina’s season ended before working out.

“I had that drive. I had that hunger,” Hogan said. “It was something I never lost, but I think maybe there was something there that I needed to find again. I think I found it and I’m just excited about being out there every day.”

Hogan is now burying his head in his playbook, trying to learn the Jets offense. The coaches say he is asking the right questions and looks like he is already picking up the system.

“You’ve got a guy that’s been around for a minute,” Gase said. “He’s played on some really good teams. He’s played in some big games. He’s a guy that from the time he’s come in the league, he hasn’t changed. He has a big chip on his shoulder, always trying to prove people wrong.”

Hogan said he is excited about playing so close to home. He grew up in Wyckoff, N.J., and went to Ramapo High School. After playing lacrosse at Penn State, he returned to New Jersey to play football at Monmouth. He and his family currently reside on Long Island.

“For me to be close to home with my family, my parents, friends, everyone’s excited about it,” Hogan said. “I was excited about it. For now, what I’m most excited about is just being with a new team and having this opportunity to go out there and try to prove myself again.”