Here Is Jets’ Plan At Quarterback After Aaron Rodgers Injury
With Aaron Rodgers now sidelined for the rest of the season, the Jets are hitching their wagon to Zach Wilson.
Head coach Robert Saleh on Tuesday said Wilson will be New York’s unquestioned No. 1 quarterback after Rodgers tore his Achilles early in Monday night’s win over Buffalo.
“I want to make it very clear Zach’s our quarterback,” Saleh told reporters. “We’ve got a lot of faith in Zach. We’re really excited about his opportunity. We’re rolling with Zach and excited for him and this opportunity that he’s going to get.”
Saleh said the Jets will explore adding more depth to a QB depth chart that now features only Wilson and practice squadder Tim Boyle. But he insisted any signal-caller the team brings in wouldn’t be competing with Wilson for the starting job.
“We’re going to look at everything,” Saleh said. “You’re going to look at veterans, going to look at young guys. But under no circumstance is this a competition. This is Zach’s team, and we’re rolling with Zach.”
Wilson, the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, has endured a dreadful NFL career to date. He’s 8-14 as a starter and is coming off a disastrous 2022 season both on and off the field. His completion percentage and passer rating both ranked last among qualified QBs, and his refusal to take accountability for his and the team’s struggles angered his teammates and coaches.
Fed up, Saleh demoted Wilson from starter to third string in late November after he threw for just 77 yards in a 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
Rodgers’ arrival was supposed to give Wilson an opportunity to sit for a year or two behind a legend and then, ideally, be ready to take back the starting job once the future Hall of Famer retired. Obviously, that’s now no longer an option.
But Saleh spent much of his Tuesday news conference hyping up Wilson, saying the 24-year-old “rebuilt” the trust he lost within the locker room and has “fixed a lot” of the mistakes that burned him over his first two seasons.
Wilson threw an awful interception Monday night but wasn’t a trainwreck in relief of Rodgers, going 14-for-21 for 140 yards and a touchdown as the Jets upset the Bills 22-16 in overtime.
“We’re very excited about him,” Saleh said. “Obviously, he will acknowledge he still has a lot of things to learn and grow, and we’re excited to be able to do that with him. … Everything about him is just so much different than a year ago.”
Wilson’s first start of the season will come Sunday at Dallas. Next up after that is a Week 3 home matchup against rival New England, against whom he is 0-4 in his career with two touchdowns and seven interceptions.