Mike White played well enough in relief of Zach Wilson against New England, had a monster day against Cincinnati, and was off to a strong start before getting hurt in the first quarter of a Week 9 loss in Indianapolis.
So what happened Sunday, when White was 24-of-44 for 251 yards and four picks in a 45-17 loss to Buffalo he didn’t even finish?
“They attached to our underneath stuff and made us earn it downfield on tight window throws,” White said. “In-game you have to adjust, identify it and attack it. You have to react the coverages you’re getting and make smart decisions. That starts with me; it’s on the quarterback to be the decision-maker and be cool, calm, and collected.”
White’s four picks were of four different varieties: one saw him hit as he threw; one was on a home run ball going for it all right after a Bills score; one was an errant pass; and one was a miscommunication with a receiver.
The third one was one of those tight window deep balls, as the Bills all but shut down the check downs and underneath passes White made hay with against Cincinnati.
“Every play has a life of its own, and once a play is over, you have to move on to the next one,” White said. “You have to learn from it and flush it – I’m a firm believer in not letting things beat you twice. You have to know how teams are going to attack you, turn the page, and get better.”
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White took the loss especially hard, noting “it’s tough when guys are out there fighting their tails off and you turn the ball over four times.”
But in his defense, that’s what the game script ended up calling for. In the first half, it’s because the Jets ran 23 pass plays to 10 running plays, counting one of each that was nullified by penalty.
“I know we’ve been executing at a high level in the short passing game with the things we’ve been asking the offense to do,” head coach Robert Saleh said after the game. “When you play a team like Buffalo who is a little bit of a zone coverage scheme, you’re hoping for some underneath stuff and yards to be had – but they’re the No. 1 defense in the NFL for a reason.
They’re tough everywhere.”
And that they showed in the second half, forcing three more turnovers and quickly turning what was a 17-3 game at the half into a 38-3 laugher by scoring on each of their first three possessions of the second half.
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That kept the game script in pass mode for Gang Green, and as White noted, one-dimensional teams are much easier to defend, Joe Flacco’s final drive touchdown pass notwithstanding.
“It’s very difficult in this league when you have to become one-dimensional, and a lot of that is my decision making,” White said.
“It’s tough, but we have to do our job and stay in the game no matter what the score is,” added Corey Davis, who also fumbled away a chance for the Jets to get points at the end of the first half. “At some point you have to block the scoreboard out and go play the game.”
So how do the Jets fix it? Besides the standard “look at the tape” answer, two offensive players know it starts with going back to fundamentals and simply doing their own jobs.
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“You can’t try to do too much, you can only do your job and control what you can control. If you try to start helping everybody, you won’t do your job, and that hurts the team,” guard Greg Van Roten said. “It’s one of the hardest things to do because you always feel like you want to try to do more, but you just have to do your job the best you can. Simplify what your assignment is, go back to fundamentals and trust your technique. Call, alignment, key, execute is what coach Saleh says all the time.”
“You can’t try to do too much, but you can do your job the best you can and figure out how to add just a little bit to make the difference,” added running back Michael Carter. “I know I can be a lot cleaner. Everybody has to lock in a little more.”
But in addition to looking at what went wrong, the Jets also will go into next week wondering who their quarterback will be, and whether or not Zach Wilson will be healthy enough to be back under center.
“I’m not at all thinking about that, especially after what just happened. My thoughts are on what has to get better,” White said matter-of-factly about the situation.
No matter who it is, though, the song remains the same.
“There’s a sense of urgency to get better because we’ve shown we can be a good football team,” White said, “and we have to consistently do that.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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