Jets coach Robert Saleh committed to Zach Wilson after brutal game vs. Patriots
Zach Wilson’s job, at least for now, is safe in New York.
Jets coach Robert Saleh said Monday that he never thought about benching Wilson despite his rough performance in their 22-17 loss to the New England Patriots.
His job is safe through the end of the year.
“I think Zach’s gonna continue to get better,” Saleh said. “I think he’s a lot better than he was a year ago … He’s our quarterback because we think he’s gonna get better and he’s gonna continue to prove why he’s the No. 2 pick.”
"He's our quarterback because we think he's gonna get better and he's gonna continue to prove why he's the #2 pick."
- Robert Saleh on Zach Wilson pic.twitter.com/QiecrKNoGI— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 31, 2022
Wilson finished 20-for-41 for 355 yards and two touchdowns in the loss on Sunday, but he had three interceptions.
Two of those interceptions were really blatant, too, including one that was lobbed right at Patriots safety Devin McCourty and another that was tossed into quadruple coverage — which was picked off by McCourty again.
Once again 🗣@McCourtyTwins | #ForeverNE
📺: #NEvsNYJ on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/hjwIBQhnBA— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 30, 2022
“He’s got to play better, and we’ve got to find ways to help him,” Saleh said after the loss.
To Saleh’s point, Wilson is off to a solid start this season. The former No. 2 overall pick out of BYU is 4-1 as a starter this season — which is already better than the 3-10 he went as a rookie. He has five interceptions on the year, but three of those were on Sunday.
And with just 18 games under his belt, it's hard to say he's not at least improving.
The Jets moved quarterback Mike White up to second on the depth chart, too, so they aren’t going to return to veteran Joe Flacco anytime soon, either.
While it was rough on Sunday, Saleh isn’t giving up on Wilson.
“I’ve got full confidence in Zach. We all do,” Saleh said. “It’s not like he hasn’t had bad games before, and he’s stepped up and followed it with good days … We’ve got faith that he’ll continue to find ways to get better.”
