Mike White isn’t sure how long his reign as the Jets starting quarterback will last, but he knows every week is an opportunity to prove a load of NFL scouts wrong.
White wasn’t drafted until the fifth round in 2018, when the Cowboys selected him 171st overall. The NFL is filled with afterthoughts who became all-time greats (most notably Tom Brady being a sixth-round pick), and White is out to prove he is the latest.
“I couldn’t tell you,” White said when asked why he thought he was overlooked on the draft board. “That’s definitely the scouting departments across the league and what their interpretation of me is. I’ve told you guys countless times, I have 100 percent confidence in myself. If you ask me, I should have been a first overall pick.
“That’s neither here nor there. that’s four years ago. Try to get my mind off that and be in the here and now, and execute what my job is right now. I’ll look back on that 40 years down the road when I’m talking to my buddies and we’re talking about the good old days.”
White has certainly offered a reasoning for an immediate second-guess, throwing for 405 yards in his first NFL start, which landed his jersey in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He appeared to be on his way to another efficient outing last week before leaving with a forearm injury, but he will get another shot at becoming the latest to rise from unknown to unbelievable on Sunday against the Bills.
That means Zach Wilson, hardly overlooked as the second overall pick of the most recent NFL Draft, will be watching from the sideline. He would have been regardless due to his knee injury, but White’s performance has left the starting quarterback spot in limbo for when Wilson returns, but White says that hasn’t done anything to change the relationship between the two quarterbacks.
“I don’t think it’s been awkward for a second,” White said. “I think he's been so supportive. He’s been awesome. It hasn't changed our relationship one bit, and it won't. I know he’s operating on a week-to-week basis with his knee and trying to get healthy and ready to play, and I’m obviously executing what job is being given to me. He’s been awesome through all this.”
That relationship could become complicated if White has another big game on Sunday, with Wilson expected to be ready to return by the following weekend.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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