Bryce Hall’s starting hopes take hit as Jets rally past Falcons

Bryce Hall, at least nominally, has been competing for a starting cornerback job for the past few weeks.

It’s fair to say, though, that competition is probably over after Monday night’s 24-16 Jets preseason victory over the Falcons at MetLife Stadium. If it wasn’t Hall’s play that gave that away, it was his mere presence on the field four drives into the game, when most of the starting defense was sitting. His play, though, didn’t help matters.

Hall was noticeable in all the wrong ways. He committed a penalty, got beat multiple times and missed a tackle, all in the span of a few drives. There wasn’t much to take from this game — even by preseason standards, it was a snoozer. But this put an end to any notion that there’s a serious competition between Sauce Gardner and Hall.

On the first drive of the game, Kyle Pitts badly beat Hall on a corner route, going 52 yards down the sideline to set the Falcons up for an eventual field goal. At least that was against Pitts — the best player on an Atlanta offense that leaves a lot to be desired.

Hall later said he was trying to get the jump on a potential interception and got caught out.

“It’s just vision,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “It’s such a simple fix. … That there, just trust your vision, trust your size, what’s gonna be a bang-bang play.”

“There’s times and places when you can do that,” Hall said. “And I’m so glad it happened on this stage. I’m learning and I feel like I’m gonna be so much better from those.”

One drive later, Hall was complicit on two plays, failing to tackle KhaDarel Hodge on a short curl that eventually went for 13 yards as well as giving up a touchdown on a slant to Olamide Zaccheaus — a play on which Hall took a wrong step outside off the line and never recovered.

After that, Gardner — who had a quiet night, making one tackle — didn’t play the rest of the way. Hall still had another lowlight to go, committing a hold midway through the second quarter during a play where he still gave up a 12-yard catch to Damiere Byrd.

It always would have been surprising to see anyone but Gardner, who the Jets spent the No. 4 overall pick in the draft on, lining up at corner in Week 1 against the Ravens. Now, it would be downright shocking. Saleh said an official decision could come soon, with the goal being a dress rehearsal against the Giants in the third preseason game.

“He’ll be fine,” Saleh said of Hall. “He’s been having a really good camp. Know this one probably stings a little bit and he knows it’s not good enough. But at the same time, he’s been having a good camp, so you just don’t want this day to define what he’s able to accomplish.”

Whether Saleh declares the competition over or not, there is little to decide at this point. D.J. Reed, who didn’t play Monday, is a lock atop the…