Mike White waited four years for the opportunity to show the world what he can do.
White was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Cowboys, but he spent just one season with Dallas and did not appear in a regular-season game. White then caught on with the Jets, bouncing on and off the practice squad until he earned the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind Zach Wilson this summer.
White has since taken over for an injured Wilson, leading the Jets to a come-from-behind, upset win over the Bengals with over 400 passing yards and three touchdowns. He threw for another touchdown against the Colts on Thursday Night Football before injuring his right forearm.
White will be back under center for the Jets against the Bills this weekend. He’s oozing with confidence ahead of the matchup — even if he still can’t wrap his head around why he flew under the radar for so long.
“That’s the scouting departments across the league and what their interpretation of me is,” White said. “I have 100% confidence in myself. If you ask me, I should have been a first-overall pick, but that’s neither here nor there. That’s four years ago.
“I’m trying to get my mind off that and be in the here and now and execute what my job is right now. I’ll look back on that 40 years down the road with my buddies when we’re talking about the good old days.”
White has played just seven and a half quarters of football, but the moxie he has shown in his short time as the Jets’ starting quarterback isn’t anything new to his coaches or teammates. White is confident in his ability to sling it with the best of them and he has shown that he can in a small sample size.
How White fares against a Bills defense, which is one of the best in the league, will likely go a long way in revealing the kind of player the 26-year-old really is. Maybe he’s the real deal. Maybe he’ll wind up struggling after a shocking introduction to the NFL world. Either way, White’s approach has him prepared to face the challenge head-on.
“He’s confident in everything he does,” Jets OC Mike LaFleur said. “I know when he goes out there on the golf course during the offseason, he feels like he’s going to take everyone on. I think that’s how he feels about all the sports. Baseball, I know he was one of the better players in the country or something like that. Everything he’s done in his life to this point has been pretty successful, and he believes no matter where he’s at, he’s going to get it done.”
