Two weeks after Zach Wilson got his starting job back, he seems to have lost it again.
The former BYU quarterback, and No. 2 overall pick, was pulled in the third quarter of the New York Jets game against Jacksonville on Thursday night. He finished 9-of-18 for 92 yards and an interception. He was booed as he left the field and never returned.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh said this wouldn’t be the end of Wilson’s career in New York, but refused to say whether he would stick with Wilson as the starter next week.
“We haven’t seen the last of him, but right now he has just got to focus on finding ways to get better,” Saleh said. “We’ve got to find ways to help him.”
Wilson being pulled twice in his second year as the starter raises significant questions about his future with the Jets.
Several weeks ago, Saleh said Wilson needed a “reset” as he was benched for quarterback Mike White. Eventually, Wilson was put back in the starting lineup after White’s injury. But this time, even without White healthy, the Jets finished the game with third-string quarterback Chris Streveler.
Saleh said he originally wanted to get Streveler a couple of plays to jump-start the running game and then put Wilson back in. But when the offense moved the ball without him, he sat Wilson for the rest of the night.
“It’s tough, I’m working my way through it,” Wilson said. “But I have to be optimistic here. You know, I believe in myself regardless if anybody else does.”
He then added he understood why Saleh took him out, noting the offense, “wasn’t doing anything.”
“Why aren’t we moving the ball? That starts with me,” Wilson said. “... I’m just trying to find rhythm, feel and confidence out there. The ability to feel like things are there, and I haven’t been able to find that.”
Moving forward, Saleh now must address why the Jets’ offense has looked better without the highly-drafted player on the field, and what it says about Wilson. Streveler finished 10-of-15 passing for 90 yards and also ran for 54 yards in his limited work.
“Those are things we have to look at. To stand up here and give you that answer, I don’t have that answer,” Saleh said. “There is a lot of stuff that we need to talk about.”
Since Wilson’s return to the starting lineup, he threw 317 yards, two touchdowns and an interception last week against Detroit. This week, however, he finished with a passer rating of 41.9 and a QBR of 5.2, a career-low.
Saleh was asked if he thought Wilson improved at all from his “reset” in his first benching. He said he thought so, but then quickly couched it by saying, “it wasn’t close to good enough today.”
Being pulled twice also complicates the optics of whether Wilson can confidently lead this team again this season, regardless of the future. Last time, Saleh stood by Wilson. This time, he admitted it is difficult.
“Confidence is a big thing and as a man you are going to have adversity,” Saleh said. “You are going to have the ups and the downs and obviously he is in it right now. Zach is the type of kid that is going to work his tail off and keep his head down and find ways to continue to improve. Obviously you would be remiss if you didn’t think there was a confidence thing here. Because when people are confident they can tackle the world.”
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/yLcVZiC
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