Getty New York Jets quarterback Mike White celebrates with wide receiver Garrett Wilson.
The new quarterback of the New York Jets took the proverbial podium today on December 1 as media members flocked around him.
Dressed in a “Ty Johnson T-shirt,” White was calm and collected while discussing the upcoming matchup with the Minnesota Vikings — which is no doubt the most important start of his NFL career.
#Jets QB Mike White meeting media … in a Ty Johnson t-shirt. Can see why guys love this dude 😂
With a win, both White and the Jets put a stamp on their 2022 postseason chances, proving that they belong. A loss could derail everything, however, and that goes double for the journeyman signal-caller who has Zach Wilson waiting in the wings.
Despite the magnitude of the situation, White remained grounded in the moment.
Jets’ Mike White Shares Wife’s Reaction to Bears Blowout
White was asked all the serious questions on Thursday, like whether or not he can win the starting job long-term, but the veteran backup didn’t want to get too ahead of himself. “If I play well, it correlates to wins,” he responded via The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt. “That’s all that matters.”
Perfect answer after perfect answer, but it’ll take more than a nice sound bite to beat the Vikings and hold onto the QB1 role. White threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns against the Chicago Bears, with a passer rating of 149.3 according to ESPN.
Outside of one or two near-interceptions, he was flawless — so much so that even his own wife didn’t quite recognize him. ESPN’s Rich Cimini was among those that tweeted out the hilarious quote from White.
Funny line from Mike White. When he got home after Sunday’s dazzling performance, his wife looked at him and asked, “Who ARE you?” #Jets
“When he got home after Sunday’s dazzling performance, his wife looked at him and asked, ‘Who ARE you?'” Cimini relayed, noting that it was a “funny” moment from the Q&A.
As you can imagine, fans had quite a few suggestions on what White said in return — most involving the cult hero’s patented nickname Mike [bleeping] White.
Of course, the 9-2 Vikes will be no walk in the park compared to Chicago, and White remembers just how quickly everything can change from euphoria to pandemonium in a city like NYC.
“Mike White says he can replay in his mind every play from the bad loss last year to the [Buffalo] Bills (4 INTs),” SNY’s Connor Hughes reported. “That’s not the case from his two wins against the [Cincinnati] Bengals [and] Bears. [White] said you learn so much more from losses than wins.”
Mike LaFleur Comments on Mike White, Zach Wilson
“He took what the defense gave him,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur voiced about White’s performance versus the Bears. “Nothing’s simple in this league… he just knows how to get the ball out of his hands quick and get the ball in [his playmakers’] hands.”
The NYJ play-caller was less fearful of a regression than most.
“When you look back at that game, he was making the right decisions [but] his feet were in front of him a little bit,” LaFleur stated concerning the four-turnover outing from White in 2021. “So he was really fast with his lower body going through his progressions, which was making him get the ball out a little quicker than he would have wanted.”
LaFleur called the Buffalo errors a “pretty easy fix,” but the proof is in the pudding. White has a chance to silence all doubters both internal and external on Sunday with a road win over the NFC powerhouse in Minnesota. Then he’ll get his grudge match against the Bills after that.
As for Wilson, LaFleur had nothing but positive things to say — as you’d expect.
“He’s handling it the best he can,” the Jets OC told reporters, “every single day just trying to get better, and that was really no different last year when he was injured… You can see the improvements every single day.”