Robert Saleh said more with what he didn’t say Friday than what he did say.
The Jets head coach was asked if Zach Wilson would start next week against the Seahawks if Mike White, who is dealing with broken ribs, is not cleared by doctors before then.
“We’ve got time,” Saleh said. “I don’t have those answers for you yet.”
That lack of an answer tells you where the Jets’ quarterback situation is. The team has clearly lost confidence in Wilson, the player they drafted No. 2 overall in 2021. He delivered another terrible performance in the 19-3 loss to the Jaguars on Thursday night and was benched in favor of Chris Streveler late in the third quarter. Streveler, a former CFL quarterback, gave the offense a spark and led a 16-play drive that stalled out at the Jacksonville 13, the Jets’ best drive of the night.
Saleh did not criticize Wilson. Instead, he vowed to support the quarterback, even if he would not say Wilson will play again this season.
Zach Wilson’s struggles continued in a poor showing against the Jaguars on Thursday. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“We’ve got to help him,” Saleh said. “We’re not going to quit on him.”
Saleh was asked if he still views Wilson as the future of the Jets. He did not exactly say yes.
Robert Saleh was adamant that he’s not giving up on Zach Wilson. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post“We’re never going to quit on anybody,” Saleh said. “I’ve got confidence in all our guys.”
The Jets are 7-8 and on the brink of missing the playoffs after a promising start to their season. The defense has given up one touchdown in each of the last two games and the Jets still lost.
Streveler was the fourth quarterback to play for the Jets this season, joining Wilson, White and Joe Flacco. The offense moved much better with Streveler at quarterback than with Wilson, which was also true when White and Flacco were playing.
Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur was asked why the offense always looks better with someone other than Wilson operating it.
“I’m going to not answer that one,” LaFleur said. “I’m not trying to compare Zach to all the other guys. I’ve got to figure it out and figure out a way to get him in a rhythm and I haven’t done that.”
On Thursday night, Wilson looked and sounded like a quarterback whose confidence was shot. Saleh benched Wilson a month ago after a terrible performance in New England. White started the next three games before suffering broken ribs in a loss to the Bills. Wilson returned to the starting lineup against the Lions last Sunday and had a few good moments surrounded by many shaky ones. On Thursday, there were no good moments. Wilson went 9-for-18 passing for 92 yards with an interception that came on a desperate heave as time ran out in the first half.
Saleh stuck with Wilson for two more series in the second half, both of which ended three-and-out. He then put in Streveler, who finished it out.
After the game, Wilson said he was searching for confidence and sounded less confident than ever before. Saleh acknowledged that confidence is the biggest issue for Wilson right now.
“I’m with you. It’s a tough thing to try to overcome,” Saleh said. “But it doesn’t take much to flip confidence. He just needs to get on a little run, a couple of things happen, go his way. I felt like that was happening in the first half of the Detroit game where he had a really nice first half. There was a lot of confidence.”
The Jets have some major positives in terms of their outlook for the future. They have a strong defense and a strong rookie class. But two years into Saleh’s time with the Jets, the quarterback situation remains a huge question.
“The quarterback is the head of the snake. You want the head of the snake to be stable,” Saleh said. “We just haven’t been able to. I’m responsible for it also. It starts with me. There are things that we can do better for Zach. There’s things we can do better for Joe Flacco. There’s things we could have done better for Mike White. There’s things we could have done better as a collective whole.”
