Getty New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson celebrating at the end of an NFL game.
The New York Jets appear ready to make a quarterback change.
On Monday, December 12 head coach Robert Saleh announced that the team is preparing as if Mike White will be the starter versus the Detroit Lions in Week 15.
However, the top decision maker for Gang Green left the door open on who his QB2 could be for this contest.
“Zach Wilson is ready for everything but at the same time, I still have to meet with the offensive staff to make sure we finish the evaluation process and all that. Again that is another one with regards to the backup quarterback that I’ll have answers for you guys on Wednesday. Zach is fine. He has been working hard for the last couple of weeks, he’s in a great mental headspace, so he’s ready for whatever we ask of him.”
#Jets HC Robert Saleh wouldn’t reveal his QB2 for #Lions game ‘I’ll have answers for you guys on Wednesday’ + he did say that Zach Wilson ‘is ready for everything’ after a few weeks away working on his fundamentals: 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight #OnePride
Zach Wilson Appears Destined to Rise up Jets QB Depth Chart
On Sunday versus the Buffalo Bills, Wilson was inactive for the third straight game.
When the Jets decided to bench him they sent Wilson from QB1 to QB3. The goal was for the former No. 2 overall pick to go back to the basics and work on his fundamentals in practice.
Any time Saleh has been asked about Wilson over the last three weeks he has said that the quarterback has been making progress and they’d keep his status week-to-week.
Monday was the first time that the head coach said, Wilson was “ready” which means it seems like a matter of when, not if, he will be the new QB2 moving forward.
Part of the messaging from the Jets brass when they made the original decision to bench him was that “the intent” was always to get Wilson back on the football field this season.
With Mike White dealing with a rib issue, the spotlight on the backup quarterback situation has only intensified.
#Jets HC Robert Saleh reiterated that the intent is still to get Zach Wilson back on the football field this season, ‘he’s been putting in the extra work’ + when asked if Mike White could ‘ruin that plan’ he smiled, ‘is that a back door hypothetical?’: 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight
Zach Wilson Has to Be Better Than Joe Flacco
Since White has taken over as the starting quarterback in Week 12, veteran Joe Flacco has been serving as the primary No. 2.
That fun fact has been mostly irrelevant until this past Sunday when he was forced into action against the Buffalo Bills.
White was removed from the game twice due to a serious rib injury he suffered. Flacco’s time in the game may have been short but it had a massive impact on how the game turned out.
The veteran passer stepped into the game with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter and immediately was strip-sacked by Bills defensive lineman Gregory Rousseau.
Buffalo ended up scoring a field goal on that free drive to increase their lead to 17-7. The Bills won the game 20-12 when everything was all said and done.
At 37 years of age, Flacco isn’t able to provide any mobility in the pocket. If we’re being kind, even when he was a younger player he wasn’t capable of movement and that has only gotten worse with age.
Wilson isn’t perfect by any means, but at the very least he can provide you with mobility to evade pressure. If the former BYU passer was the QB2 on Sunday, he certainly doesn’t get stripped on that play and maybe the Jets end up winning.
Since time travel hasn’t been invented, the Jets can’t go in the past to correct that mistake but they can certainly fix it moving forward.
It’s time to make a change and the Jets should make that decision official on Wednesday ahead of the upcoming matchup with the red-hot Detroit Lions.