The Jets’ prodigal son returns to the field this weekend, as Zach Wilson will suit up and start at quarterback for the first time since spraining his PCL against the Patriots in Week 7.
Wilson showed flashes of the potential that made him the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL draft before getting hurt. He also battled bouts of inconsistency and struggled with turnovers, throwing nine interceptions in six games.
Robert Saleh would like to see Wilson play a cleaner game moving forward, starting with Sunday’s game against the pass-friendly Texans. Early turnovers played a major role in Wilson’s first-half struggles, which ultimately resulted in New York’s offense sputtering and not scoring a first-quarter touchdown until Mike White started against the Bengals in Week 8.
“We felt he was getting better throughout the first half of the year,” Saleh said Wednesday. “The time it took him to get comfortable in the game was getting quicker. In Carolina, it took the second half. As you get all the way through the New England game when he got injured, that second drive he gets into field goal range in the next quarter, the next drive we get to the one-yard line, he gets hurt.
“It’s about continuing to get comfortable early in games and let his athleticism take over and his arm talent take over, because he is a talented young man. Just step up, get better and take it one play at a time.”
The Jets have witnessed the kind of player Wilson can be when his athleticism and arm talent do indeed take over. Wilson put the Jets on his back and carried them to an overtime triumph over the Titans for their first win of the season in Week 4. The BYU product struggled to replicate that performance in the following weeks, but the Tennessee game showed that Wilson has it in him.
White, Joe Flacco and even Josh Johnson laid out a blueprint for how Mike LaFleur’s west coast offense should be orchestrated. All Wilson has to do now is play with himself and continue to make strides in his development.
