Jets' Mike White to Start vs. Seahawks in Injury Return; Zach Wilson to Be Inactive
Dec 26, 2022
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 11: Mike White #5 of the New York Jets throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on December 11, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Joshua Bessex/Getty Images)
Needing to win their final two games to have a chance at making the playoffs, the New York Jets will get Mike White back in Week 17.
Per Brian Costello of the New York Post, White was cleared by doctors Monday and will start Sunday's matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.
Head coach Robert Saleh confirmed the news to reporters, adding Joe Flacco will serve as the backup and Zach Wilson will be inactive.
White has missed the past two games after suffering three fractured ribs in a Dec. 11 loss to the Buffalo Bills. He told reporters five days later that he spoke to almost 10 doctors in an attempt to find one who would clear him to play, but none of them would do it.
The loss of White forced the Jets to turn back to Wilson as their starting quarterback. He didn't play as badly as he did in a Week 11 loss to the New England Patriots that resulted in his benching, but it wasn't much better.
Wilson threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns with one interception against the Detroit Lions on Dec. 18, but he completed only 18 of 35 attempts. His interception on the first drive of the third quarter resulted in a Lions field goal, and Detroit won 20-17.
Taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars four days later, Wilson was benched late in the third quarter after going 9-of-18 for 92 yards with one interception. Chris Streveler had some success, completing 10 of 15 attempts for 90 yards.
The Jets failed to find the end zone in a 19-3 defeat. It was their fourth consecutive loss after they reached 7-4 with a 31-10 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Despite having fallen under .500, the Jets still can reach the playoffs. Their easiest path would be to win the next two games against the Seahawks and Miami Dolphins and have the Patriots lose once in the next two weeks.
New England, which has lost four of its last five, closes the season at home against Miami on Sunday before traveling to Buffalo in Week 18.
The Jets can also qualify by winning out and having the Los Angeles Chargers lose their final three games.
The Chargers close the season against the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night, Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 1 and Denver Broncos on Jan. 8. Those three teams are a combined 13-30-1.
White was 1-2 in three starts after taking over for Wilson, but his losses were against two 12-3 teams in the Bills and Minnesota Vikings. The Jets were competitive, losing by a combined 13 points.
The fifth-year quarterback has completed 62 percent of his passes for 952 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions in three games.
Jets WR Coach Miles Austin Suspended 1 Year for Violating NFL's Gambling Policy
Dec 23, 2022
CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 18: Wide receivers coach Miles Austin of the New York Jets talks with Garrett Wilson #17 during the first half against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 18, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
The NFL suspended New York Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin for violating the league's gambling policy, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Rich Cimini. Schefter added the suspension was for at least one year.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that there's no confirmation Austin bet on NFL games and that he might have wagered on other sporting events, which is also prohibited.
Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston shared a statement from Austin's lawyer, Bill Deni, who said his client "[wagered] from a legal mobile account on table games and non-NFL professional sports." Austin is appealing the punishment:
Statement from Bill Deni, attorney for Miles Austin, who was suspended by #NFL for gambling. He is appealing #Jetspic.twitter.com/wXl7ucCcAj
This is the second notable suspension within the last year for a gambling-related offense. Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley was banned through at least the 2022 season after he bet on games during the 2021 campaign.
Austin joined New York's staff in 2021 after the team hired Robert Saleh as head coach. He and Saleh had worked together in 2019 when Austin was an offensive quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers.
As receivers coach, the 38-year-old has been tasked with helping to develop a group that includes 2021 second-round draft pick Elijah Moore and 2022 first-rounder Garrett Wilson.
Moore's future with the team has remained murky after he requested a trade in October. Wilson, on the other hand, looks like a long-term piece of the passing game and is leading the team in the three major receiving categories (71 receptions, 996 yards and four touchdowns).
Before entering the coaching ranks, Austin spent 10 seasons in the NFL as a player. In 129 appearances, he caught 361 passes for 5,273 yards and 37 touchdowns, and he was named a Pro Bowler with the Dallas Cowboys in 2009 and 2010.
Jets Must Move on from Zach Wilson in Offseason as QB Implodes in TNF Loss to Jaguars
Dec 23, 2022
Jets QB Zach Wilson
Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, the first and second picks in the 2021 NFL draft, respectively, met for the second time on Thursday night. The Jaguars win served as a showcase of just how drastically the two quarterbacks' careers have arched in opposite directions since being drafted.
Lawrence has played every bit this season like the franchise quarterback he was drafted to be. Wilson has played like a placeholder that the Jets need to replace in the offseason.
Lawrence appears to be on the cusp of joining the elite quarterback club, and he has the Jaguars barreling toward a potential playoff spot. Wilson has shown virtually no growth over the last year and had Jets fans chanting for backup quarterback Joe Flacco by the third quarter on Thursday.
"WE WANT FLACCO" chants have broken out in the Meadowlands
The Jets didn't turn to Flacco, but they did pull Wilson for former CFL quarterback Chris Streveler. While Streveler didn't do enough to deliver the win, he provided a brief but much-needed offensive spark.
Wilson was 9-of-18 for 92 yards and an interception before he was pulled. He was worse than even those numbers would suggest, repeatedly missing throws, ignoring open running lanes and failing to recognize pressure.
Streveler engineered a 13-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a failed fourth-down conversion. To that point, New York's longest drive was nine plays and 33 yards. Streveler was far from spectacular throwing the ball, but he did the little things that Wilson has not.
Chris Streveler horribly underthrows a pass that should have been a touchdown, and Jets fans cheer wildly just because it was completed. That's how low a bar Zach Wilson has set.
Streveler's flashes should be the final piece of proof that Wilson is not New York's long-term answer at quarterback. He became the third quarterback this season—along with Flacco and Mike White—to cleanly outperform Wilson.
Jets can't complete the drive, but undeniable that their offense is better with Chris Streveler, a practice squad call-up, than Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick.
Don't really see how Wilson can come back from this.
Flacco was the Week 1 starter, as Wilson was dealing with a knee injury. He went 1-2 as the starter and posted a passer rating of only 77.0. Yet, that was better than what we've seen from Wilson, who had a 75.3 rating coming into Thursday night.
White took over for the struggling Wilson in Week 12 but has missed the last two games with a rib injury. He's posted an 85.8 passer rating while going 3-3 as a starter. Wilson now has a 5-4 record as the starter this season, but it's obvious that he's still in the developmental stage of his career.
"He's got a lot of the things that you can't teach," Jets head coach Robert Saleh said this week, per Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post. "For him, it's learning the timing and rhythm aspect of it."
The problem is that the Jets' offense has no rhythm with Wilson under center. He can provide the occasional chunk play because of his arm talent, but he struggles to sustain drives and make easy reads.
The on-field issues for Wilson appear to be two-fold. He's still showing the same sloppy mechanics he did as a rookie, and now he's lost any semblance of confidence in his arm, his eyes or his legs.
Fundamentals were what was wrong with Zach Wilson. That's what led to his benching. #Jets said it: His upper & lower half were operating out of sync.
You don't fix that in three weeks. The QB out there now isn't just dealing with fundamental problems, but overthinking now, too
Wilson doesn't seem to trust what he's seeing on the field, he isn't making quick decisions, and with sloppy mechanics, he's incapable of overcoming his deficiencies with raw talent.
And that's just how Wilson is failing on the field. Off the field, he continues to show that he doesn't understand what it takes to be a franchise leader. Accountability has eluded the Brigham Young product in 2022.
After completing just nine passes for 77 yards in a Week 11 loss to the rival New England Patriots, Wilson refused to admit that he let the Jets' defense down.
.@Connor_J_Hughes: "Do you feel like you let the defense down at all?"
More recently, Wilson insisted that he "definitely" believes that he's still the future at quarterback for the Jets.
If the Jets were a different franchise or perhaps in a different stage of their own development, perhaps Wilson could still be the future. However, this New York team has shown that it's extremely close to being a playoff factor.
The Jets seem to have a budding head coach in Saleh. They have a stiff defense that came into Week 16 ranked third overall and fourth in points allowed. They're loaded with young talented players like Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson—legitimate candidates for Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, respectively.
The Jets are truly a quarterback away from being a real threat in the AFC, and Wilson isn't that quarterback. New York cannot continue to exercise patience while developing a player who simply isn't improving.
Zach Wilson completion % by year:
2021: 55.5% - dead last in NFL 2022: 54.9% - dead last in NFL
Proponents for patience could point to the strides Lawrence has taken under Doug Pederson this year—or perhaps those made by Tua Tagovailoa under Mike McDaniel and the Miami Dolphins. However, the fact that players like White and Streveler have been more competent in Mike LaFleur's offense suggests that coaching is not the problem.
Wilson's supporting cast definitely isn't the issue.
At 7-8, the Jets now need a lot of help to get into the postseason. They'll undoubtedly turn back to White if and when he's healthy. They may give Stereveler the start in Week 17 if White can't go. It feels highly unlikely that we'll see Wilson again in 2022 unless New York has no other choice.
In the offseason, New York needs to find a more permanent replacement for Wilson. Whether it's White, former Jet Geno Smith, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo—a player LaFleur knows well—or an incoming rookie, the Jets' 2023 Week 1 starter cannot be Wilson.
Pulling the plug on the No. 2 pick in the draft won't be an easy thing to swallow, but New York has been here before. The Jets used the third overall pick in the 2018 draft and moved on after only three seasons.
The timetable here is a little different because the 2021 Jets weren't ready to win. These Jets are.
#Jets whiffed on their QB pick with the #2 overall pick in 2021.
OK.
But what you don’t want to do is compound that by holding on to a whiff at QB.
Admit you made a mistake by moving on. When you’re stuck in denial, you make the initial whiff much worse.
It's time for the Jets to rip off the proverbial Band-Aid and move on to a quarterback who can help steer them to the postseason.
As was the case with the Jets and Sam Darnold two years ago, both parties need a fresh start. That may not work out for Wilson, but New York will at least have a chance to make a run. The players will at least have an opportunity to believe in themselves.
It's obvious that no one in New York believes in Wilson anymore.
Ryan Fitzpatrick: "His career is done in New York + he has lost the locker room"@RSherman_25: "The time for excuses is over"@AndrewWhitworth: "He is about to get lit up, I honestly feel bad for the kid."#TakeFlight
If the Jets do try running it back with Wilson, they're likely to experience another season exactly like this one: A promising campaign of "what ifs" that will ultimately end in disappointment.
Jets' Robert Saleh on Zach Wilson's Benching: 'We Haven't Seen the Last of Him'
Dec 23, 2022
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - DECEMBER 22: Zach Wilson #2 of the New York Jets warms up prior to the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium on December 22, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The Jacksonville Jaguars control their own destiny in the AFC South and made a loud statement during Thursday's win over the New York Jets.
But it wasn't as loud as the boos the Big Apple fans greeted quarterback Zach Wilson with throughout the game.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh benched Wilson in the third quarter after he went 9-of-18 for 92 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception while being sacked three times. Yet that won't spell the end of the playing time for the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft.
"We haven't seen the last of him," Saleh told reporters when discussing Wilson following the ugly 19-3 loss.
Chris Streveler, who has never started a game in the NFL, came in for Wilson and proved to be more of a threat to Jacksonville's defense with 90 passing yards and 54 rushing yards. He moved New York to the Jacksonville 12-yard line on his first drive before the team turned it over on downs.
Saleh explained there was a plan in place to perhaps get Streveler in the game regardless of Wilson's performance:
Surely, nobody envisioned this though when the Jets selected Wilson when they did in the 2021 NFL draft. He is supposed to be the franchise quarterback, and he is instead getting benched in a must-win game for someone who is better known for his accomplishments in the Canadian Football League.
Wilson was already benched earlier this season for Mike White, although he was back under center the past two games because the latter suffered a rib injury.
The second-year signal-caller appeared to take a step back after throwing for 317 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a loss to the Detroit Lions last week. The weather played something of a role, but Trevor Lawrence tallied 280 total yards and a touchdown for the Jaguars in that same weather.
Now the Jets are 7-8 and in last place in the AFC East.
The playoffs likely aren't going to happen, but the organization has bigger questions after a lackluster showing from the supposed franchise quarterback.
Jets' Zach Wilson Benched vs. Jaguars, Replaced by Chris Streveler
Dec 23, 2022
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - DECEMBER 22: Zach Wilson #2 of the New York Jets warms up prior to the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium on December 22, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
In a shocking move, the New York Jets benched quarterback Zach Wilson in the third quarter of their Thursday Night Football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
At the time of his exit, Wilson had completed nine of 18 passes for 92 yards and an interception. Chris Streveler, who was elevated from the practice squad prior to Thursday's game, took over at quarterback for New York.
The Jets struggled to move the ball with Wilson under center, and it was clear that a change was needed as the fans grew restless. In the middle of a chorus of boos, the home crowd at MetLife Stadium chanted "We want Streveler."
This benching is the latest low point in a disappointing season for the 2021 No. 2 overall pick. Wilson has failed to live up to his draft status and looks to have stagnated in his development.
Things got off to a rocky start early, as Wilson suffered a knee injury in the first preseason game of the year that caused him to miss the first three weeks of the season. Upon his return in Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jets embarked on a four-game winning streak, largely due to their strong defense and rushing attack.
However, rookie running back Breece Hall suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 7 against the Denver Broncos, leading to more of a reliance on the passing game. Wilson failed to demonstrate an ability to lead the offense, going 1-2 in the next three games. An abysmal performance in a 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots was the breaking point, as he was benched in favor of backup quarterback Mike White.
The Jets offense looked more efficient with White running the show, but the team suffered close losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills. White injured his ribs against Buffalo, forcing the Jets to turn back to Wilson.
After last Sunday's loss against the Detroit Lions and Thursday night's benching, it's fair to wonder if Wilson's career in New York will come to an end sooner than expected.
Robert Saleh Supports Jets QB Zach Wilson, Blasts 'Instant-Coffee' World in NFL
Dec 19, 2022
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - SEPTEMBER 25: Zach Wilson #2 and head coach Robert Saleh of the New York Jets talk during warmups before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at MetLife Stadium on September 25, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Perhaps there was a time in the NFL when quarterbacks were given more time before they were expected to be franchise cornerstones, but New York Jets signal-caller Zach Wilson was thrown into the big-market spotlight as soon as the AFC East team selected him with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 draft.
Head coach Robert Saleh wishes that wasn't the case.
"The frustrating thing is that this kid is going to be a good quarterback, but the NFL and this new instant-coffee world that we're in just doesn't want to give people time," Saleh said of Wilson, per Rich Cimini of ESPN. "So, we look at him and he's just nitpicked with a fine-tooth comb."
Saleh benched Wilson this season, although the BYU product was back under center for Sunday's loss to the Detroit Lions because Mike White was sidelined with fractured ribs. It remains to be seen whether White will return for Thursday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Wilson went 18-for-35 for 317 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the loss to Detroit.
Saleh said he was "pumped" for the quarterback because he took the "big step" of overcoming some adversity during the game and leading a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
Whichever quarterback is under center for the 7-7 Jets will need to get them back on track after three straight losses if they are going to make the postseason. New York is one game behind the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins for the final two AFC wild-card spots.
Like the rival New England Patriots, the New York Jets managed to squander a great opportunity at making up ground in the AFC wild-card race. While the...
Zach Wilson Called Out by NFL Twitter as Jets Lose to Lions with Mike White Injured
Dec 18, 2022
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - DECEMBER 18: Zach Wilson #2 of the New York Jets reacts before a game al at MetLife Stadium on December 18, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Zach Wilson's short NFL career has been a siren song for the New York Jets. It's hard to ignore the tantalizing upside and ability, but behind that facade awaits a rocky shore.
Sunday was the latest wreck. Wilson's struggles contributed to New York's 20-17 loss to the Detroit Lions, although the defense's inability to protect a late lead didn't help.
Still, Wilson and the Jets had 1:49 left on the clock late in the fourth quarter and all three timeouts, only needing to get into field-goal range to force overtime. Instead, he took two sacks on the final drive and could only get the Jets to the Detroit 40-yard line, setting up a 58-yard field-goal attempt for Greg Zuerlein that was missed short.
This is coming apart at the seams for Zach Wilson. He looks rattled, teammates frustrated, fans restless. Season on the line - feels like the defense is gonna have to make a play that changes the game. #Jets
The Zach Wilson discourse will focus heavily on his terrible interception, but if I were a Jets fan I'd be equally concerned about plays like that 4-yard completion on third-and-13. He's just not a quarterback you can trust to sustain drives.
The Jets are floundering. Sunday's loss was their fifth in the past seven games, dropping them to 7-7 on the season. Their odds of reaching the postseason are fading, and fast. Contrast that to the Lions (7-7), who have won six of their last seven and suddenly are firmly in the NFC playoff mix.
Some of the Jets' turbulence comes from the all-or-nothing play of Wilson, who can absolutely take your breath away on consecutive plays for completely different reasons. Sunday was the perfect microcosm of his career in that regard:
Wilson undoubtedly has more talent than Mike White, who missed Sunday's game with fractured ribs. But there was a reason the Jets turned to White as the starter and moved Wilson to the third-stringer or inactive role for the past three games.
The Jets seemed to have more stability on offense with White under center. Wilson offers far more chaos.
On Sunday, a steady hand may have been enough to earn a win. But it's hard to know where Wilson will steer the ship on a weekly basis, and this latest game wasn't the exception.
The New York Jets open their final home stand of the 2022 NFL season is a less-than-ideal spot. The Jets are on the outside of the AFC wild-card race in ninth...
