Zach Wilson

QB Notes: Jets, Pickett, Chiefs, Carr

December 21st, 2022 at 1:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Zach Wilson will start for the Jets in Week 16, Robert Saleh confirmed. This was the expected Jets path, given the updates on Mike White‘s injured ribs. The short-week assignment made White’s road back tougher, and the team’s preferred starter will have a mini-bye to recover ahead of a possible Week 17 return. White attempted to receive clearance from as many as 10 independent doctors last week, and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com adds he is still consulting with doctors. But the Jets are proceeding cautiously with the fifth-year passer. Saleh does not believe the injury White suffered against the Bills is a season-ending malady, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. White is due for unrestricted free agency in March.

Here is the latest from the quarterback landscape:

After Mitch Trubisky played in most of the past two Steelers games, the team is ready to move its rookie back into action. Mike Tomlin expects Kenny Pickett to start Saturday against the Raiders, Teresa Varley of Steelers.com tweets. Pickett has now sustained two concussions this season.
The conditional 2024 pick the Browns obtained from the Panthers for Baker Mayfield will be a fifth-round choice, David Newton of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter). Mayfield needed to hit the 70% snap barrier with the Panthers. The new Rams starter did not come especially close to that, being demoted and then waived.
Derek Carr‘s recent Raiders extension — a three-year, $121.4MM pact — gives the team a three-day window following Super Bowl LVII to jettison the quarterback and save $40.5MM. Carr trade rumors are nothing new; he loomed as a trade candidate for much of the Jon Gruden period. But a GM informed the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora he does expect Carr to finally be dealt. Despite the Raiders’ struggles, Carr ranks 10th in QBR. The team’s blockbuster trade for Carr college teammate Davante Adams also might make a trade a tough sell, and the prospect of the Raiders needing to find an upgrade — an impediment to a trade during Gruden’s stay — also makes this a risky path. In his ninth season and having made 141 career starts, Carr is the longest-tenured starting quarterback in Raiders history.
Making a push for a second MVP, Patrick Mahomes offered a bit of insight on how he ended up in Kansas City. The sixth-year Chiefs passer said, after a productive meeting with Andy Reid ahead of the 2017 draft, he spoke with multiple teams who indicated they would draft him. During an appearance on Travis and Jason Kelce‘s New Heights podcast (video link), Mahomes said he informed the Chiefs they would need to trade up to at least No. 11 to land him. Mahomes said he did not know the extent of the Saints’ interest at the time — New Orleans held the No. 11 pick — but the Cardinals’ affinity for then-Texas Tech prospect has been known for some time. Arizona picked 13th that year. The Browns also traded their No. 12 pick to the Texans, who chose Deshaun Watson. The Chiefs traded their No. 27 choice, a 2017 third-rounder and their 2018 first to the Bills to secure the No. 10 draft slot. That ended up being a franchise-changing decision.

Jets To Start Zach Wilson In Week 15

December 18th, 2022 at 9:37am CST by Sam Robinson

DECEMBER 18: In addition to Week 15’s tilt with the Lions, White will likely miss the Jets’ Week 16 matchup with the Jaguars as well, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link). Wilson will therefore have a chance to win his job back sooner than expected.

DECEMBER 16: Mike White‘s rib injury will sideline him for the Jets’ pivotal Week 15 game against the Lions, meaning Zach Wilson will end up going from the third-string job to the starter in a week’s time.

The Jets announced Wilson would become White’s backup this week, with Joe Flacco being bumped down to No. 3 again. That shift will now rise in relevance. Doctors will not clear White ahead of the Jets’ Sunday tilt, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Robert Saleh has since announced it will be Wilson against Detroit.

After being forced to leave last week’s game twice, White will be given at least a week for additional recovery. White re-entered the Jets’ Bills rematch after both hits, drawing considerable praise for his toughness from teammates, and has practiced in a limited capacity twice this week. It was believed White, who said he is dealing with multiple rib fractures (via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini, on Twitter), would be able to go. But Jets doctors are not ready to clear their starter for contact just yet, per Schefter. This could be a multiweek injury, if doctors determine another hit could lead to internal damage, Cimini adds (via Twitter).

Saleh said the decision to move Wilson from No. 3 to No. 2 on the depth chart was actually made the Friday before the Jets-Bills game, Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. Flacco still dressed and entered the game to replace White, losing a fumble during one of his seven snaps, but the team had decided Wilson would dress this week ahead of time.

Upon taking the rare step to bench a top-five quarterback pick for performance reasons in his second season, Saleh said the plan was for Wilson to play again this year. This will be an opportunity for the former unquestioned Jets starter to regain some momentum, and Wilson playing well would certainly reopen the door to another promotion. But the second-year passer struggled to the point Saleh had little choice — as far as his team’s playoff push was concerned — but to bench him last month. White has offered better performances since returning to the QB1 role.

Saleh did not confirm Wilson would remain the starter if he fares well Sunday, via CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones (on Twitter), but it would obviously be in the Jets’ best interests to see their highly drafted QB earn the starting job back. The Jets bailed on a former No. 3 pick (Sam Darnold) to select Wilson second overall, despite the BYU product not having a sustained run as a top prospect like Darnold did. Wilson has not shown much to indicate he will be a long-term option for the Jets, who have built a strong enough defense to make a surprise playoff push. Football Outsiders gives the Jets a 40.5% chance to qualify for the postseason, but a loss this week would increase the degree of difficulty in a conference that has two other 7-6 teams — the Patriots and Chargers. Entering Week 15, the Jets are just outside the AFC’s seven-team bracket.

Wilson’s 72.6 passer rating ranks last among qualified starters. He threw four touchdown passes in his seven starts this season. Flacco’s five (all in the season’s first three games, as he started in place of an injured Wilson) still lead the team. Wilson’s comments after his most recent start — a loss to the Patriots that included 103 total yards, a bottom-five mark in Jets history — rankled some of his teammates, and select Jets had expressed skepticism about the would-be starter this offseason. Although Wilson is under contract through 2024, considerable doubt about his status beyond this season has emerged. A solid performance this week would help here, though it could also complicate the current Jets’ QB situation.

Latest On Jets’ Quarterback Situation

December 14th, 2022 at 12:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Jets will soon check another depth chart-configuration box at quarterback. Robert Saleh said Wednesday Zach Wilson will move back into uniform by becoming the team’s backup in Week 15.

Since being benched following the Jets’ second loss to the Patriots, Wilson spent the past three games as the team’s third-stringer. He is now back in front of Joe Flacco, who has been demoted for a second time this season. Flacco, Wilson and new starter Mike White have each spent time in all three positions on the team’s depth chart this season.

For those keeping track of this jagged journey, Flacco has gone from QB1 (due to Wilson’s injury) to 2 to 3 to 2 and now back to 3. Wilson has gone from 1 to 3 to 2, with White climbing from 3 to 2 to 1 this season. Saleh began the week noncommittal about Wilson dressing again, but Saleh has said the hope is the former No. 2 overall pick plays again this season. The second-year Jets HC praised Wilson’s accountability since his demotion.

Wilson’s personal QBs coach, former Jets assistant John Beck, said (via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com) he does not think the former No. 2 overall pick ever expected to be benched. Wilson is the first top-five QB draftee to be benched for performance reasons in his second season since Akili Smith 22 years ago. The Jets have shown a higher offensive floor with White, even though the team has lost two of the latter’s three starts (to admittedly strong opposition, in the Vikings and Bills). It is difficult to see them pivoting back to Wilson, though White was forced to leave Sunday’s game twice after hard hits.

White is expected to be ready for Week 15, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com notes, adding that his rib injury is believed to be a pain tolerance issue. White’s toughness in Buffalo earned him rave reviews from teammates. This came weeks after a report surfaced indicating select Jets were skeptical about Wilson this offseason. In 129 attempts, White is completing 62% of his passes. That is down from his 132-attempt 2021, when the former Cowboys fifth-rounder completed 66.7% of his throws. White sports a 49.1 QBR after three starts; his 2021 QBR sat at 50.5 before Wilson retook the reins after recovering from a PCL injury.

The Jets initially acquired White in 2019, when he signed with their practice squad. White received an offer to join the second iteration of the XFL, Cimini notes, adding that the rebooting league was proposing “significantly more” than the base NFL practice squad pay ($136K for a season at the time). But he joined the Jets as a depth option during Sam Darnold‘s bout with mononucleosis in September 2019. Then-backup Trevor Siemian broke his ankle during his first (and only) start as a Jet, leading to the team using Luke Falk as its next option.

“At the time, it was pretty tough,” White said, via Cimini, of his NFL-or-XFL decision. “I knew I was an NFL quarterback — I wasn’t an XFL quarterback — but [the XFL] was an opportunity to play and I knew I needed film. The only film I had was preseason from Dallas, and it wasn’t the greatest film, to be honest.”

White did not play in 2019 or 2020 but broke through in 2021, when he became the first Jets passer since Vinny Testaverde in 2000 to top 400 yards in a game. White then went down with an injury in his next start and threw four interceptions against the Bills upon returning. Despite Wilson’s move to second string, White does not appear in jeopardy of losing his job. If the Jets fall out of playoff contention, however, that would probably change. White is a free agent at season’s end; so is Flacco. Two years remain on Wilson’s rookie contract.

Poll: Who Will Be Jets’ Starting QB In 2023?

December 1st, 2022 at 3:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Last week’s Jets quarterback change may not be a long-term move, per Robert Saleh, but Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes the expectation is Mike White will keep his new gig against the Vikings and Bills over the next two weeks. White faring reasonably well against those upper-echelon teams could keep Zach Wilson out of the picture for a while.

The Jets have assembled a quality defense quicker than most expected. After ranking last in both total defense and scoring last season, the Jets are a top-five team in both categories in Saleh’s second season. Their defense sits fourth in DVOA, creating legitimate playoff aspirations for the first time since 2015. The Jets have a chance to snap the NFL’s longest playoff drought (11 seasons), leading Saleh to yank Wilson. That move is atypical for a player with Wilson’s draft pedigree and injects uncertainty into the Jets’ quarterback plans beyond 2022.

No quarterback selected in the top five has been benched for performance reasons before the end of his second season since the Bengals sat down 1999 No. 3 overall pick Akili Smith midway through the 2000 campaign. Wilson being shut down represents an obvious red flag about his future. Will the Jets be able to pivot back to last year’s No. 2 overall pick?

QBR places Wilson in 25th, actually two spots ahead of Aaron Rodgers, after the BYU product finished 30th in this metric as a rookie. Passer rating is far less kind; no starter checks in behind Wilson’s 72.6 mark there. Joe Flacco remains the Jets’ touchdown pass leader, with five, despite having exited after three starts to clear another path for Wilson. The Jets used a top-three pick on a quarterback twice in a four-year span, but while Sam Darnold was not holding a well-built defense back, Wilson was. Rumblings of teammates’ waning confidence in the fast-rising prospect surfacing this past offseason certainly open the door to the Jets needing to consider other options for 2023.

White torched a battered Bears secondary, doing so more than a year after he posted the first Jets’ 400-yard passing performance since Vinny Testaverde in 2000. The former Cowboys fifth-round pick has been with the Jets since 2019, initially landing a practice squad gig, and has enjoyed spurts of popularity over the past two seasons. The Jets demoted Flacco for the ex-Day 3 draftee earlier this season. White’s next two performances will help illustrate if the Jets can legitimately consider him for their 2023 starting gig. White, 27, will need to be re-signed next year. His putting together more quality starts will complicate that process for the Jets.

Saleh and OC Mike LaFleur‘s San Francisco ties create a natural path for Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the 49ers cannot retain via the franchise tag due to the sides’ August restructure. Then committed to Wilson, the Jets were not closely linked to Garoppolo during this year’s long-running (and ultimately fruitless) trade sweepstakes, but this could easily become a much-rumored landing spot for the ex-Patriots second-rounder. Will the 49ers, however, be so quick to move on and give the keys back to the largely untested Trey Lance?

A veteran deal would mean cutting into the advantage Wilson’s rookie contract creates, but if Wilson cannot do enough to stay on the field, the Jets need to regroup to capitalize on the defense they have built. The Broncos took this route in 2018, which would have been No. 26 overall pick Paxton Lynch‘s third season. Denver waived the first-round bust months after signing Case Keenum.

The Raiders have not lived up to expectations in Josh McDaniels‘ first season, and the second-chance HC — who is likely to return for another season — has a slim window to unload Derek Carr‘s three-year, $121.4MM contract. Three days after Super Bowl LVII, Carr is owed $40.5MM — his 2023 salary and $7.5MM of his 2024 base — creating an avenue for a trade. The Jets would need to act swiftly, and it would wall off a Garoppolo path a month before it could open. But Carr could be available ahead of his age-32 season, should McDaniels want a fresh start.

On the other end of the timing spectrum, Rodgers could conceivably be available next summer. While Rodgers trade speculation has ultimately provided endless content and no action, the Packers structured his record-setting $50.3MM-per-year contract to include a 2023 option bonus ($58.3MM) that can be paid out at any point from the start of the 2023 league year to the day before next season. It would cost the Packers only $15.8MM in dead money, per OverTheCap, to trade the contract after June 1. The Jets would be making a familiar move, trading for a future Hall of Fame Packers QB in his late 30s, but this scenario will undoubtedly be mentioned. Rodgers, who backtracked on his trade demand in 2021 and passed on leaving Green Bay this year, does not have a no-trade clause.

For the first time since 2016, they are not poised to have a top-12 pick. What other options would be available for Gang Green? The Seahawks are aiming to re-sign ex-Jet Geno Smith, while Daniel Jones hopping New York teams seems unlikely as well. Gardner Minshew and brief Jet Teddy Bridgewater are also slated to hit the market. Tom Brady, as it should be at least noted, is also due for free agency. If the Lions land their QB prospect in the draft, Jared Goff stands to be available. As this year’s quarterback carousel showed, more options could be on the table.

Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your thoughts on this unusual situation in the comments section.

Mike White May Remain Jets’ QB1 For Remainder Of Season

November 27th, 2022 at 9:44am CST by Rory Parks

In the wake of his decision to bench quarterback Zach Wilson, Jets head coach Robert Saleh said that he intends to reinsert Wilson into the starting lineup at some point this season. But as Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports writes, Wilson is unlikely to return to the field before Week 15 (barring injury), and if the team remains in playoff contention with Mike White under center, Wilson can probably expect to stay on the sidelines for the rest of the year.

Joe Flacco, who started the first three games of the 2022 campaign while Wilson was battling knee trouble, will serve as White’s backup for Sunday’s Week 12 matchup with the Bears, so he will get the nod if White should get injured during the Chicago contest. If White sustains a lingering injury while New York remains in the playoff hunt, Saleh could be faced with a difficult Flacco vs. Wilson decision, one that he would obviously prefer to avoid.

Like Jones, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com says that White will remain the QB1 if the Jets are winning with him under center. A successful run from White would be a boon to Gang Green’s playoff chances this year, though Cimini believes it would also complicate the team’s offseason plans. Wilson has yet to start more than seven games in a row in his young career, and at this point, it’s probably premature to write off his chances to become a legitimate NFL starter. Still, the 6-4 Jets are looking to solidify their status as contenders for the foreseeable future, and they need to know if Wilson will be part of that future or if they need to begin looking elsewhere.

New York may also need to make a decision on offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur this offseason. As Cimini writes, Wilson’s struggles are LaFleur’s struggles, and Saleh’s express acknowledgement of Wilson’s deteriorating mechanics is not a good look for LaFleur or quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese.

“I truly believe it starts with me and ends with me, so I’ve got to figure out a way to reset [Wilson], get him back to playing fundamentally sound football and, more importantly, just consistent football, because he’s done some really good things,” LaFleur said. “But I haven’t done a good enough job to get the consistency out of him. So that starts and ends with me.”

According to Jones, the team believes Wilson has turned an emotional corner, as evidenced by the apologies he recently issued to his teammates. Whether or not he has the chance to reestablish himself on the field this year will depend in large part on White’s performance in the coming weeks.

AFC East Notes: Hyde, Wilson, Patriots

November 26th, 2022 at 11:53am CST by Ben Levine

Bills safety Micah Hyde was expected to miss the rest of the season while he continued to recover from his neck injury. As Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic writes, there could be a glimmer of hope that Hyde is back on the field during the 2022 season.

Hyde’s recent neck surgery helped eliminate the lingering pain that the veteran had been dealing with, and the safety has been active with the Bills for the past month. This includes work (alongside other inactive players) with the strength and conditioning staff, with Buscaglia writing that the safety was spotted running drills with injured members of the 53-man roster. Hyde later told the reporter that he’s taking his rehab one day at a time, but he left the door open for a return this season.

“I would love to. I would love to. We’ll see,” Hyde said. “It’s not really up to me. It’s kind of up to the doctors. Historically, no. But I’m not dealing with… those are other people, other situations. So, we’ll see what happens.”

At the very least, it’s encouraging that Hyde didn’t definitively reject the idea of a 2022 return. Now in his sixth season in Buffalo, it wouldn’t be shocking if the veteran makes a push to play as the Bills pursue a Super Bowl ring.

Some more notes out of the AFC East…

Despite Zach Wilson‘s disastrous Week 11 performance (and, later, his inability to take responsibility for the loss to the Patriots), the Jets continue to support the now-benched quarterback, with Robert Saleh previously indicating that this isn’t the end of the former first-round pick’s career in New York. Following the fallout from Wilson’s post-game presser, the QB still needed to win back his locker room. According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, Wilson apologized to teammates for his post-game remarks, and while he supported fill-in Mike White, the quarterback also made it clear that he’ll be back under center before long. “It was the only thing I could think of the last couple of days,” Wilson said (via Cimini). “I wanted the opportunity to talk to those guys and really make it from the heart.”
Speaking of Wilson’s Jets teammates, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that Jets players have been concerned about their starting QB’s performance for some time. Whether Wilson’s struggles were mental or fundamental, Rapoport notes that the organization hope Wilson’s mental break will help the QB both for this season and beyond.
Some good news on the injury front for the Patriots. Center David Andrews suffered what was thought to be a serious thigh injury during New England’s win over the Jets in Week 11, but Rapoport tweets that the lineman escaped a serious injury and could return for the end of the season or the playoffs. Jeff Howe of The Athletic adds (on Twitter) that while there’s no clear timeline on Andrews’ return, the veteran will do everything in his power to get back on the field.
The Patriots saved a chunk of money recently. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss (on Twitter), the Patriots reworked safety Cody Davis‘ contract. The move saved the organization about $250K against the cap. The veteran inked a two-year, $4.5MM deal with the Patriots prior to the 2021 season and is set to hit free agency following the 2022 campaign.

Jets To Bench QB Zach Wilson For Week 12

November 23rd, 2022 at 10:41am CST by Sam Robinson

10:41am: White will receive the call against Chicago, Saleh said. The former Cowboys fifth-round pick made three starts for an injured Wilson last season. White, 27, completed 66.7% of his passes last season and threw five touchdown passes against eight interceptions. Flacco will be White’s backup, per Saleh, who said (via the New York Post’s Brian Costello, on Twitter) Wilson will be inactive.

White created tremendous buzz with his 400-yard game against the eventual AFC champion Bengals, but after suffering an injury in the Jets’ ensuing game, he crashed back to earth via a four-INT dud against the Bills. By benching a formerly coveted prospect for White, the Jets are placing a great deal of faith in a player who has not taken a 2022 snap.

10:03am: Robert Saleh opened the door to a Zach Wilson benching Monday, and the Jets are following through with the move. During a Wednesday team meeting, players learned the second-year quarterback will be benched for Week 12, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

Considering the investment the Jets made in Wilson, it is obviously a major development they are sitting him due to performance issues so early in his tenure. The team bailed on a No. 3 overall pick (Sam Darnold) after three seasons to take Wilson second overall. But Wilson has floundered since returning from a preseason knee injury, putting Saleh in a bind.

At 6-4, the Jets have a chance to secure their first playoff berth since 2011. That currently represents the NFL’s longest postseason drought — by a considerable margin. The team has greatly improved on defense, vaulting from 32nd in Saleh’s first year to being a top-10 unit in both total defense and points allowed. Wilson has done well to restrict that defense, struggling to justify that No. 2 overall investment.

Wilson, who rocketed onto the first-round radar after a breakthrough 2020 season at BYU, has completed less than 56% of his passes this season and has thrown just four touchdown passes in seven 2022 starts. Wilson’s 55.6% completion rate matches his 13-start rookie figure, inviting concern — especially with the Jets making more investments at receiver this offseason. The Jets are coming off one of the worst offensive performances in franchise history. Their 103 total yards is the fourth-lowest number in franchise annals. Their Wilson-directed Week 18 showing last season (53) ranks as the worst.

Wilson’s comments after his 9-for-22, 77-yard outing in Foxborough also became an issue. The young passer indicating he did not feel he let his defense down rankled some defensive players. Saleh keeping Wilson as the starter may have created a locker room problem. Addressing the situation, Saleh said (via SNY’s Connor Hughes, on Twitter) “maybe there’s a little irritation at the moment, but I don’t think there’s hate.” Still, this could be a significant turning point for the Jets, who have invested tremendous draft capital at the quarterback position in recent years. Wilson remaining on the bench the rest of the way certainly calls his long-term status into question.

The Jets recently demoted Week 1 starter Joe Flacco to their third-string post, moving Mike White — their initial Wilson replacement last year — to the backup job. White emerged as a Wilson threat last year, after becoming the first Jet to surpass 400 passing yards since Vinny Testaverde in an upset win over the Bengals. That talk died down after White struggled to replicate that form, however. When asked who would take over for Wilson if he did not receive the call against the Bears, Saleh did not say whether it would be White or Flacco. Despite starting just three games, Flacco still leads the Jets with five touchdown passes this season. Whoever does receive the call will be tasked with keeping the Jets in the playoff mix.

The Jets could conceivably circle back to Wilson, justifying this as a temporary shutdown to allow for further development. In explaining his decision to bench Wilson, Saleh said the former mid-major prospect’s Jets career is “not over.” Saleh said the intent is for Wilson to play again this season.

While undoubtedly a blow to the team’s big-picture plan, Wilson also is not showing improvement during second season as a full-time starter. The Jets zeroed in on Wilson in 2021, moving the draft’s suspense to the 49ers’ No. 3 spot. After the Jaguars went with locked-in No. 1 prospect Trevor Lawrence, the Jets went with Wilson, doing so despite the latter’s 2020 rise aided by a COVID-19-altered BYU schedule that featured lesser opposition. The Jets will face one of the QBs they bypassed — Justin Fields — on Sunday.

AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Wilson, Patriots

November 22nd, 2022 at 1:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Byron Jones is moving toward a lost season, but the Dolphins are not giving up hope on the eighth-year defender. Mike McDaniel did confirm Jones is still not ready to practice due to the ankle and Achilles operation he underwent in March. While the high-priced cornerback was expected to be ready for training camp, it has obviously brought concern he remains on the shelf into Thanksgiving week. McDaniel said this week he is optimistic Jones will, in fact, suit up at some point this season, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes.

The Dolphins have been without Jones and Nik Needham, given a second-round RFA tender to stay in Miami this year, for weeks. Needham is out for the season. Jones’ absence — by far his longest as a pro — has left the 7-3 team shorthanded at corner. It will be interesting to see if Jones can indeed contribute for the Fins this season. By restructuring Jones’ five-year, $82.5MM deal this offseason, the Dolphins added some future dead money to the contract — in the event they want to move on before its conclusion.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

Faced with the prospect of a second-year demotion, Zach Wilson may be losing some support in the Jets locker room. Wilson indicated he did not feel his 9-for-22, 77-yard passing performance against the Patriots let the team’s defense down, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com notes those remarks upset some defenders. The former No. 2 overall pick piloted an offense that totaled 103 yards against the Pats — the fourth-fewest in Jets history — months after a Wilson-led attack set a franchise record with 53 yards in Week 18 of last season. Monday marked the first time Saleh has threatened to bench Wilson, who earned his job back following each of his knee injuries over the past two seasons. Wilson ranks 23rd in QBR (45.1) but is second-to-last in passer rating (72.6).
The Patriots placed Christian Barmore on IR last week, but Adam Schefter of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter) the team expects him to return later this season. The second-year defensive tackle has battled knee inflammation for weeks. Surgery is not on the agenda here, per Schefter, who adds New England anticipates Barmore returning after the four-week IR minimum. He is eligible to come back in Week 15.
Joining Jones on the injury front, Trey Flowers is unlikely to come off the Dolphins‘ IR list for a bit. McDaniel said (via Jackson) Flowers is not close to returning from the foot injury that sidelined him in mid-October. Flowers is eligible to return from IR this week, but it cannot be assumed he comes off IR this season. The Dolphins do have six injury activations remaining, however, providing some flexibility even when factoring in the Jones situation. Flowers, who sat in free agency for months prior to his Dolphins agreement, played just 65 defensive snaps with his new team this season. Injuries hindered Flowers significantly in Detroit as well. The Dolphins have both he and Emmanuel Ogbah out of the equation at defensive end.
Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona said he would like to see his position more respected, salary-wise, and Mike Reiss of ESPN.com posits this could affect how Cardona approaches his free agency. Cardona would have his work cut out for him if he takes such a stance. Long snappers are the league’s lowest-paid players, with each earning the league minimum or just north of that. Browns snapper Charley Hughlett signed an extension this year that made him the league’s highest-paid snapper — at $1.4MM per year.

Jets Not Committing To Zach Wilson As Week 12 Starter

November 21st, 2022 at 4:15pm CST by Adam La Rose

4:15pm: Given another chance to address this matter, Saleh is not committing to Wilson. The second-year Jets HC said (via the New York Post’s Brian Costello, on Twitter) the team is “keeping everything on the table” regarding their quarterback. Following a rough Wilson outing against the Patriots three weeks ago, Saleh said the plan was for the former No. 2 overall pick to start the rest of the season. With the Jets still contending for a playoff spot despite poor quarterback play, the team’s decision will obviously be one to monitor ahead of the team’s Week 12 game against the Bears.

While Wilson has been informed his job is not locked in any longer, Saleh did not indicate if either White or Joe Flacco would start if Wilson ended up being benched, Connor Hughes of SNY tweets. The Jets demoted Flacco, who remains their touchdown pass leader (with five) despite starting only three games this season, for White during Wilson’s latest run as their starter.

8:58am: During Sunday’s 10-3 loss to the Patriots, the Jets delivered one of their worst offensive performances in franchise history, once again leading to questions about their plans at the quarterback position moving forward. For at least one more week, though, no changes will be coming.

Zach Wilson completed just nine passes for 77 yards in the game, one in which the Jets mustered two yards of offense in the second half. As head coach Robert Saleh confirmed after the game, however, he did not consider benching the 23-year-old at any point during the contest. Moving on to backup Mike White under center is “the furthest thing from my mind,” Saleh added, via Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic (subscription required).

Sunday marked the fourth time in 2022 that Wilson completed fewer than 60% of his passes and threw for less than 160 yards. Taking into account the three games he missed at the start of the season due to a knee injury, that represents an alarming lack of development for the second-year passer. Wilson’s three-interception performance in Week 8 against the Patriots raised questions about Wilson’s grip on the starting role, but Saleh backed the former No. 2 overall pick then as he is doing now. Support from within the team’s locker room appears to dwindling, though.

Rookie wideout Garrett Wilson was among the most vocal players to voice their frustrations in the immediate aftermath of the loss. He stopped short of naming any one player or coach individually, but said that the staff “ha[s] to put more trust in the receiver room” to improve offensively.

“It starts in practice,” he added, via ESPN’s Rich Cimini. “It’s got to be better, the things we see and don’t call out. It has to start getting called out. This is unacceptable. No one wants to feel like this, but that’s not enough… Hopefully, this is a wake-up for some people in the facility… to get on their details.”

Zach Wilson added further to the frustration with his performance when speaking after the game. He laid a much smaller portion of the blame on himself than expected, adding that he did not feel he and the offense let the rest of the team down. Per Cimini, there remain some “raw feelings” amongst New York’s defensive players, and Wilson’s lack of contrition “didn’t sit well” (Twitter link).

At 6-4, the Jets are now at the bottom of the AFC East. Their playoff hopes are still very much alive given the parity in their division and most of the AFC, but the QB position will remain under intense scrutiny in the coming days and weeks barring significant improvement.

Jets Committed To Zach Wilson As Starting Quarterback

October 31st, 2022 at 3:46pm CST by Adam La Rose

Zach Wilson has been the subject of plenty of scrutiny in his young NFL career, and especially so following his performance yesterday. The second-year Jets quarterback played a large role in the team’s loss to the Patriots in Week 8, but his starting role is safe going forward.

Head coach Robert Saleh confirmed when speaking to the media on Monday that the team did not at any point contemplate benching the 2021 second overall pick during the loss (Twitter link via Connor Hughes of SNY.tv). Wilson completed less than half of passes (20 of 41) and threw three interceptions, leaving plenty of blame squarely on his shoulders for the team’s four-game winning streak coming to an end.

Overall, the 23-year-old has not been seen as the catalyst of the Jets’ offense, one which ranks mid-pack in most major categories. In other words, the second-year jump many had expected him to take (along the development curve of most young signal-callers) has yet to take place. That carries added significance in the wake of recent developments affecting the team’s offense.

The season-ending injuries suffered by running back Breece Hall and offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker have put a major dent in New York’s ground game. As a result, a larger burden of the unit’s success will now rest on Wilson’s development as a passer. How large of a step forward he takes will be a major storyline for the remainder of the season.

Regardless of the progress (or lack thereof) the team sees in the BYU alum, though, a QB change will not be forthcoming, Saleh insisted. The one exception to that commitment, of course, would be an injury, something Wilson already has a history with. He missed four games as a rookie, then the first three contests of the 2022 campaign due to a preseason knee injury which required arthroscopic surgery. Veteran Joe Flacco would be next in line to fill in for Wilson in the event he were to miss further time.

At 5-3, the Jets’ season could still very well end in a playoff berth. Even if the team falls short of that feat, though, valuable evaluation of their franchise QB will take place throughout the second half of the campaign.

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