Zach Wilson wasn’t lights out but also wasn’t terrible on Sunday, and he was a lot more realistic about his performance and his future after the game, saying that the wonder if he had earned another start “was not up to him.”
Indeed, head coach Robert Saleh was asked Monday about his quarterback situation for Thursday’s game against Jacksonville, and it is still TBD based on Mike White’s ribs.
“We’ll get the clearance first, and that’s something I have to talk to the offensive staff about,” Saleh said when asked if White was the starter if healthy. “We’ll see what happens.”
The rumor is that White has a broken rib that doctors want to see calcify before clearing him, in order to prevent a further break that could cause a punctured lung or bigger injury – which may not come in the next 72 hours.
If it is Wilson, well, Saleh reiterated Monday what he had said Sunday about Wilson’s performance.
“Thought he had a really nice first half, started a little slow in the third, buy really pumped for him because in the past, when he’s hit a speed bump in the game, it gets him off the rails – but I thought he did a good job of getting back on it in the fourth quarter,” Saleh said. “I wish I could’ve been better for him in that two-minute drive, but he did a great job to get us in position to kick that field goal. There’s some things he’d definitely want back, but I think he did a nice job and finished strong.”
Saleh is hopeful that both Corey Davis (concussion) and Quinnen Williams (calf) will be able to go, although Denzel Mims, who also left with a concussion Sunday, is likely out, with not enough time to clear protocols.
If they do go with Wilson, it will be a huge battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks in the 2020 Draft, with huge playoff implications; the Jags need a win to keep pace in the Wild Card hunt and with Tennessee in the AFC South, while the Jets may need to win out to secure a playoff berth.
Huge game, huge stakes, and while it was a win almost two years ago to the day (Dec. 27, 2020) that took them out of the running for Lawrence with the No. 1 pick, now the Jets need another win (or two or three) to get to where they hoped they’d be when they took Wilson in April 2021.
“It’s been a tale of two halves, and we knew this whole season would come down to a young team winning games in the fourth quarter,” Saleh said. “In the first half, we made those plays, but in the back half, we’re not doing it consistently. But, the good news is we are in these games and putting ourselves in position to win. We've got to go back and find a way to recapture what we were doing in the first half of the season over the next stretch of games, and hopefully extend it, but it starts with Jacksonville.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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