Ahead of their Week 12 game against the Chicago Bears, the New York Jets made a huge move, benching starting quarterback Zach Wilson. He was coming off a disastrous performance against the New England Patriots in which he completed 9-of-22 passes for 77 yards, so the benching was certainly warranted.
His response to the abysmal performance during his press conference and how he carried himself in the locker room irked teammates and cemented the decision to remove him from the lineup. In his place, Mike White stepped into the starting lineup.
White lit up the Bears, going 22-of-28 for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Those are numbers Wilson wasn’t coming close to achieving, as he had only four touchdowns in seven games. While he came back to Earth against the Vikings, completing only 31-of-57 attempts, he threw for 369 yards but had two interceptions.
While he didn’t throw for a touchdown, he did rush for one and he had the Jets in position for an upset victory on the road against the Minnesota Vikings. Braxton Berrios dropped what would have been a game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Should the Jets struggle again this upcoming week against the Buffalo Bills, could we see Wilson back in the lineup sooner than later? That seems to be the plan for the Jets, as head coach Robert Saleh said today that the plan is still for Wilson to play again this season at some point.
While it is encouraging to hear that Wilson is taking practice more seriously, it does sound a little bit odd that so much time is being dedicated to a player who isn’t even going to be active on game day for the third straight week. That kind of attention is rarely given to backups, which goes to show just how serious the Jets are about getting Wilson back in the lineup.
Week 14 is a huge opportunity for White. He has a chance to get some revenge against a Bills team who crushed him last season, as he completed only 54.6 percent of his passes for 251 yards and four interceptions against them last season.
That was the last start White ended up making, as the Jets went back to Zach Wilson. Could that happen again this season? If White has another dud like that, it would not be a surprise to see Wilson get another shot at starting in a golden matchup against the Detroit Lions in Week 15 before facing off with another favorable matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday Night Football in Week 16.
