Wilson to stay with New York Jets next season say coach Saleh
The New York Jets second year quarterback Zach Wilson has had more downs than ups this year, but it seems like coach Robert Saleh is still backing his QB.
Zach Wilson made more enemies than friends this season in the Meadowlands, but head coach Robert Saleh says the franchise are sticking with their former Number 2 overall draft pick “through hell or high water.”
Wilson presser caused a stir
After Wilson was benched midway through he season it became unclear if the Jets were over their former first round draft pick. It’s true the Jets a 6-4 record, and at the time the Jets looked like a likely playoff team, but a 10-3 loss to the Patriots changed everything.
It wasn’t just for his play, which wasn’t particularly outstanding, but it wasn’t costing the Jets games either. The decision to bench Wilson came after a post game interview he had in the locker room after the game.
The Jets scored just 3 points all game, and when asked if he and the offense let the team down, he denied any wrong doing, which didn’t sit well with his teammates, his coach or the media, which ripped him to shreds.
White and Flacco free agents this year
Coach Saleh pledged his allegiance to Wilson in the press conference after the game, but changed his mind during the week and started Mike White who exploded for 369 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears in the following game. With that performance, White proclaimed himself last the starter in the Big Apple until he fractured three ribs in a game in which he got mauled by the Buffalo Bills.
Wilson returned under center the next week and threw for 317 yards, two TDs and an interception, but the Jets lost to the Lions. New York would then lose to the Jaguars the next week in a game they put up just three points in Jacksonville. Wilson had 92 yards and an interception before he was benched by Chris Streveler for the rest of the game. Last week in a must win game against the Seahawks, Coach Saleh opted to go with a still recovering Mike White instead of Wilson. The Seahawks crushed the Jets and ended their chances of a playoff run.
Wilson has “all the talent in the world” say Saleh
As rocky as the waters have seemed this year, the Jets seem to be staying with their second year quarterback. When asked about the future of the franchise and the future of the position, the Jets coach told reporters “Zach has all the talent in the world, and we have all the confidence in the world in him,” Saleh said. “It’s just, like I said, a reset. We’re going to grind with him. We are. Through hell or high water, we’re going to figure how to get him to where we know he can be.”
The Jets drafted Wilson with the second overall pick in a quarterback heavy 2021 NFL Draft, and two other quarterbacks on their roster, Mike White and Joe Flacco, will be free agents at the end of the season. With the QB situation as it is going into the next season, it would seem as though New York is going to have to stick with their young QB who has gone 15-18 in his first two seasons with 15 TDs and 18 interceptions.