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New York Jets fans received some great news for a change on gameday.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport shared on Twitter that quarterback Zach Wilson “is expected to be cleared by doctors” next week and will make his 2022 debut versus the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wilson initially suffered a meniscus tear and bone bruise in his knee during the preseason. There was an initial fear on social media that he tore his ACL and was out for the season, but that was eventually squashed.
Zach Wilson Will Replace Joe Flacco at QB1
The questions were asked last year and they came back up again this season: what if Joe Flacco plays really well? Would head coach Robert Saleh stick with the cagey veteran or still turn the keys of the franchise back to the youngster?
Saleh last year played coy with the media, but there wasn’t any openness this time as Saleh emphatically stated that when Wilson is healthy and cleared by the doctors, he will go back into the starting lineup.
Even though Saleh was pretty clear on the subject, he will still be asked that question after the Week 3 Cincinnati Bengals game.
If the Jets win it’ll be their second straight victory and they would then sit at 2-1 on the season. That would end two droughts on 1 Jets Drive simultaneously.
The Jets haven’t won back-to-back games since 2020 and haven’t won two games in the month of September in the same season since 2015.
Zach Wilson Is the Future of the Jets Organization
As exciting as it was to see Flacco help orchestrate that impressive comeback versus the Cleveland Browns, there is a shelf life that exists.
The elder statesman is 37 years old and is in the last year of his contract. There is no guarantee he returns to Gang Green or heck even to the game of football.
That will always be in the back of everyone’s heads as they watch him play and have success or failure. While on the other side of the coin, Wilson is the present and future of the organization.
Any success that the former BYU product has is sustainable because he’s only 23 years of age. Fans can get excited about what that leads to in 2022 and all the years beyond it because he’s young and under contract for the foreseeable future.
I’ll be honest as I have watched Jets football, both this year and last year, without Wilson out there, it has affected the viewing experience. When you see other players on the offensive side of the ball have success like Elijah Moore, Garrett Wilson, among others you wish that the success was via your young quarterback.
Flacco is a fine solid veteran that is getting the job done. He is the backup quarterback and when the starter is compromised in any way his job is to fill in via spot duty and so far he has beautifully.
However the real season starts when Wilson gets back under center because he can answer the question we’ve been asking since ‘Broadway’ Joe Namath, do this organization have a franchise quarterback?
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