Zach Wilson will start for the Jets against the Texans on Sunday in Houston.
That was expected.
What wasn’t expected was backup quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Mike White being placed on the COVID list Tuesday. It’s not clear if either will be back for Sunday’s game. Flacco told reporters last week he hasn’t been vaccinated. White is vaccinated.Â
Wilson, who’s missed the past four games with a posterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, has been medically cleared to play, according to the Jets. If neither Flacco nor White is available, Josh Johnson will serve as his backup.
The remaining barrier for the 22-year-old Wilson to clear was his own confidence in the knee in terms of planting, pivoting and running on it, according to coach Robert Saleh. Wilson has been practicing with the scout team the past two weeks, and the past two Sundays he’s done some rigorous pregame workouts and looked strong.
“We’re going to make sure we protect this young man,” Saleh said Monday. “So, when he is fully healthy and he feels like there are no limitations in his ability to play football or he’s not thinking about that knee, we’ll get him out there. But he’s got to be 100 percent healthy before we get him out on the football field.Â
“He’s being evaluated. We’ll get him through another one [Tuesday] and be able to evaluate him from there, and then we’ll be able to make a decision Wednesday morning.”Â
That decision was made Tuesday.
Now it’s time for Wilson to show improvement from his first six starts, during which the Jets went 1-5. He’s shown flashes of being the playmaker he was at BYU before being drafted second overall, but he’s been too loose with the football, throwing nine interceptions.
Wilson, before he hurt his knee against the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., last month, was 104-for-181 for a 57.5 percent completion rate for 1,168 yards, four touchdowns for a passer rating of 63.5.
Saleh last week said “structurally” Wilson’s knee was “getting where we want it to be,” adding, “It’s just more confidence than anything.’’Â
It’s been an eventful few weeks for the Jets at quarterback since Wilson was injured.
White, who came in for Wilson when he was hurt in New England, engineered a 34-31 upset win over the Bengals in his first NFL start, throwing for 405 yards. White injured his forearm the following week in Indianapolis in the first quarter and was replaced by Johnson, who threw for 317 yards and three TDs.
In the next game, a 45-17 home loss to the Bills, White struggled, throwing four INTs and was benched for last week’s home game against the Dolphins, replaced by Flacco, who completed 24 of 39 for 291 yards and two TDs in a 24-17 loss to Miami.
Now, the Jets’ season returns to what it was supposed to be about in the first place — developing Wilson. Who’ll back him up is anyone’s guess at the moment.
As expected, the Jets worked out several kickers in the wake of Matt Ammendola’s two missed field goals in Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins. Neither Saleh nor special teams coach Brant Boyer would give Ammendola a vote of confidence Monday. So they worked out Josh Lambo, Alex Kessman, Dominik Eberle and Chris Blewitt on Tuesday, and signed Kessman to the practice squad. They released LB Corey Thompson from the practice squad to make room for Kessman.
