Vern Raburn and his then-teenage buddy, William Henry Gates, used to drag race the streets of Albuquerque, a pastime that gave Bill Gates many speeding tickets before he became the world’s richest man.
In turn, Raburn became the 18th employee at his pal’s company, Microsoft, and when he retired with a pot of money, he could buy a jet. But he had a vision: a pocket rocket that was faster than turboprops, could land at 10,000 small airports nationwide and was as comfortable as bigger jets.
Cirrus Vision (Courtesy of Cirrus Aircraft)
By creating the Eclipse in 2006, Raburn became the father of the very light jet, or VLJ, which has revolutionized aviation. No surprise, Cessna jumped on the VLJ bandwagon with its CJ, followed by the Cirrus Vision, Embraer Phenom and even Detroit’s nemesis, the HondaJet.
“Very light jets have opened the door to private aviation for travelers who want efficiency, privacy and flexibility, especially for short regional trips,” says Richard Zaher, founder and CEO of Paramount Business Jets. “In a market like Florida, they’re a perfect fit.”
Embraer Phenom (Courtesy of Embraer SA)
Carrying four to seven passengers, a VLJ is certified for single-pilot operation, although charter companies such as Argus-rated Paramount, the highest safety standard, use two pilots. “It is,” says Cirrus representative Nate Delaney, “a luxury SUV that flies,” and Florida is a top-three market for Cirrus, with many Vision jets in local airspace.
VLJ owners and passengers avoid airport hassles: no TSA, no lost luggage and the ability to drive right to the plane. Ryan Gucwa, CEO of Tampa-based Odyssey Air, has a local client with both a Cessna VLJ and a much larger Falcon 50. He notes, “The VLJ is his little sports car. It costs a fraction of a larger jet, and it cruises at 365 knots, making trips a short hop. You get jet speeds at prop costs.”
Honda (Courtesy of Honda Aircraft)
Imagine being able to climb aboard your own jet and fly at close to commercial airliner speeds, while still landing at tiny island airports throughout the Caribbean. Or when you hear that sailfish are biting off the Carolinas, you can be baiting a hook in a couple of hours.
Is there a VLJ in your future? Yes. If you’re hesitating, don’t.
Chris Caswell is an award-winning writer and the former editor of several yachting magazines. He has appeared on Oprah as a boating lifestyle expert and hosted the Marine Voyager series on the Speed Channel.
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Amazon Prime Video is the exclusive home for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football games, including this week’s game. On top of Amazon Prime Video, an Amazon Prime subscription includes free shipping, exclusive deals, access to the Prime Day sales events, Amazon Music, a year of free GrubHub+ and more.
A standard Amazon Prime subscription is $15 monthly or $139 annually, but discounts are available for students and those on qualified government assistance. You can try Amazon Prime free for 30 days. You can also just subscribe directly to Prime Video and forego all the other Prime Benefits. A Prime Video subscription costs $9 monthly.
Amazon Prime Video is the exclusive home for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football games, including this week’s game. On top of Amazon Prime Video, an Amazon Prime subscription includes free shipping, exclusive deals, access to the Prime Day sales events, Amazon Music, a year of free GrubHub+ and more.
A standard Amazon Prime subscription is $15 monthly or $139 annually, but discounts are available for students and those on qualified government assistance. You can try Amazon Prime free for 30 days. You can also just subscribe directly to Prime Video and forego all the other Prime Benefits. A Prime Video subscription costs $9 monthly.
Dec 21, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) runs with the ball against New York Jets defensive end Braiden McGregor (55) during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Aaron Glenn and his New York Jets could take a few notes from how a struggling football team like the New Orleans Saints can regroup from a miserable start to the season and actually build some legitimate momentum.
Tied 6-6 in the second quarter, the Saints outscored the Jets 23-0 in the final 31:31 to cruise to a 29-6 victory in Week 16 action on Sunday afternoon down in New Orleans.
The Saints, who started the season 2-10, have now won three straight games, including confidence-building divisional victories over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Glenn’s Jets (3-12) have now lost three straight and five of their last six.
Week 16 marked the debut of a new-look defense under coordinator Chris Harris, who took over for the fired Steve Wilks, and little improvement was seen. The Jets followed up the yielding of 82 points in their previous two games by allowing the Saints, who entered Sunday with the worst scoring offense in the NFC, to put up a season-best 29 points.
Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough put up a career-best 308 yards with one touchdown on 32 of 49 passing. That lone score came with 41 seconds left in the third quarter — a 23-yard connection to Chris Olave — to put New Orleans up 16-6. Olave led all receivers with 10 receptions for 148 yards and two scores.
After two more Saints field goals, Olave got behind the Jets’ defense between the hashmarks and reeled in a 38-yard touchdown from Taysom Hill.
Jets rookie quarterback Brady Cook yet again could not generate much in his second-ever start. He completed 22 of 35 passes for 188 yards and an interception while running for his life for most of the day. The Saints sacked him eight times.
New Orleans out-gained the Jets 412-195, as it is becoming abundantly clear that Cook — an undrafted passer out of Missouri — is not the diamond in the rough that some were hoping him to be. Veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who returned from a groin injury, backed Cook up on Sunday.
Frederick Green, a Bronx man who authorities said has four prior arrests, was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, assault and weapons possession in the shooting of New York Jets defensive back Kris Boyd on Nov. 16 outside a Midtown restaurant.
Green, 20, was hiding in his girlfriend’s apartment in upstate New York and identified through social media posts and a Crime Stoppers tip, police sources told the New York Daily News. U.S. marshals took him into custody Monday in Amherst, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo.
Boyd, 29, was walking out of Asian fusion restaurant Sei Less with two teammates and another friend around 2 a.m. when he was shot in the abdomen and taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition. The bullet lodged near his right lung in the pulmonary artery, police said.
He posted on social media Nov. 19 that he was “starting to breathe on my own,” but two weeks ago was readmitted to the hospital because of health complications. However, Boyd had recovered enough that last week he made a surprise appearance at the Jets’ practice facility and attended a special teams meeting.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news conference last month that the shooting occurred after a group of four to five men “chirped” at Boyd and his companions outside the restaurant, making fun of their fashionable attire.
The confrontation continued when Boyd, Jets teammates Irvin Charles and Jamien Sherwood and another friend left the restaurant minutes later after deciding not to dine there. As they left, the same group again began to “verbally insult them, and once again, questioning their clothing,” Kenny said.
A brawl ensued and one of the fighters — later allegedly identified as Green — fired two rounds from a gun, striking Boyd. Investigators released surveillance footage of the gunman and asked the public’s help identifying him.
In an email to The Times on Nov. 17, an NYPD spokesman said, “The sought individual is described as male, medium complexion. He was last seen wearing a black cap, black sweatshirt, black pants, multi-colored sneakers, and carrying a black bookbag.”
Green has four prior arrests, including one in 2024 for reckless endangerment and another in 2018 for robbery that was sealed because he was a juvenile, police told the Daily News.
Boyd’s teammates were delighted to see him at the practice facility Dec. 3.
“I’ve had friends that didn’t survive gunshot wounds, so to be able to see him walking around with a smile on his face, be able to [talk] with him, I mean, it’s always a blessing,” Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson told ESPN. “[Guns] aren’t toys and they’re very deadly, so the fact that he walked away from it is a blessing.”
Boyd is in his first year with the Jets after playing the last two seasons with the Houston Texans and from 2019-2022 with the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2019 out of Texas.
And once again — across America’s nearly 136 collegiate programs — talent from the Philly region can be felt from coast to coast.
At the head of that list are the Villanova Wildcats (9–2), who learned on Sunday afternoon that they would be the #12 seed in the Football Championship Subdivision and would face Harvard in the first round.
For Villanova , it’s another chance to highlight a great rushing attack.
Credit: Villanova Football-Twitter/X
Villanova’s football program has had plenty of great talent over the years. Perhaps it’s finest — running back Brian Westbrook — whose career as an all-purpose player led him to a 1,000-yard rushing and receiving year in the same season (the first player in college to do so), the Walter Payton Award, and FCS Player of the Year. His contributions would land him in the Villanova Hall of Fame before playing six seasons with the Eagles.
Former Villanova running back Kevin Monangai earned All-CAA Honors while a Wildcat and went on to play in the NFL for the Eagles and the Vikings. In the 1960s — running back Billy Joe was the only Villanova athlete ever inducted into the Varsity Club Hall of Fame for two sports — and would go on to play professionally for the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and was a World Champion with the New York Jets.
Now the Villanova Wildcats have a sophomore running back named David Avit. And they almost lost him.
After a freshman season with 923 yards rushing and nine touchdowns, Avit has followed up so far this year by breaking out against Monmouth with 135 yards. He followed up that performance with 102 yards against the University of New Hampshire and 63 yards against Elon.
But that isn’t all of the talent. In the season finale against Scared Heart on Saturday, that included a mesmerizing performance on the ground from Ja’briel Mace, including 165 yards and two scores on nine carries, including an 80-yard scamper and a receiving touchdown in the 34–10 win.
A week before, in an overtime win against Stony Brook with David Avit out due to a knee injury , Isaiah Ragland ran the ball for nearly 100 yards.
For Villanova , late-season playoff football is bolstered by an elite running game.
Oct 26, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and place kicker Nick Folk (6) celebrates the win against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
The New York Jets have won their first game of the season on the bounce. The bye week has passed, and Gang Green will face the Cleveland Browns, against whom they have a great overall record. Then again, who doesn’t have a great record against the Browns?
Head coach Aaron Glenn was still in the Halloween spirit during Monday’s press conference when questions about whether Justin Fields or Tyrod Taylor would be the starting quarterback resumed.
“It helps the quarterback’s confidence when the coach and the player talk about who the guy is,” he said. “Not that I am going to tell it to you guys. That has nothing to do with the coach’s confidence. It’s really hilarious that you keep asking me.”
Glenn kept the answers that the media were prying at to his chest. Why?
“I have my reasons. My conversations with Justin will stay with him. I refuse to tell you guys about the conversations between us.”
Mysterious. One unclear explanation after another.
When asked if star receiver Garrett Wilson will be ready for this Sunday’s matchup with the Browns, Glenn said, “Garrett Wilson is going to practice this week, and I’m excited to see him practice. We will have to see.”
Michael Carter II was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for John Mechie III. Carter had fallen out of favor since Marcus Brownlee came in.
“I think Metchie can help us. Our brand of football really fits him. I would assume healthwise that he is ready to play.”
Glenn revealed that he still has a way to go as a coach, but he’s tried to imprint his vision onto the players since becoming the coach this year.
“I want the players to know that I have an aggressive mentality. I’m going to continue to evolve, and I look forward to my growth as a coach.”
Glenn also confirmed Andre Cisco is out for the season.
(AP) – Two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport in New York, injuring a flight attendant, damaging a cockpit and tearing off part of a wing in what the airline described as a “low-speed collision.”
An aircraft carrying 32 people was preparing for takeoff Wednesday night to Roanoke, Virginia, when its wing made contact with the fuselage of an aircraft arriving from Charlotte, North Carolina, with 61 people aboard, according to a statement from Delta.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the collision happened at the intersection of two taxiways. The NTSB said it sent a team of 10 investigators to the airport, and flight recorders have already been recovered from both airplanes and sent to its headquarters for analysis.
It wasn’t immediately clear who was at fault, but air traffic control had instructed the Virginia-bound plane “to hold short and yield to the other aircraft” before the collision, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
A flight attendant was taken to a hospital, according to a statement from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. One of the pilots told the tower that the flight attendant told him she hit her knee when the planes collided, according to audio that www.LiveATC.net posted. There were no reports of passengers injured, the airline said.
“Their right wing clipped our nose and the cockpit. We have damage to our windscreen and … some of our screens in here,” a pilot said, according to the air traffic control audio.
Images of the damage showed the broken wing on one plane while the other plane’s cockpit window was shattered and its nose was deeply gouged in several places.
The plane that had landed “stopped, jerked, and jumped to the right,” passenger William Lusk told ABC. ”Everyone went dead silent. And as everyone went dead silent, the pilot calmly came on and said, ‘Hey, we’ve been in a crash, everyone remain calm.’”
Close calls like this could add to worries about aviation safety in the wake of recent crashes and near misses including the deadliest plane crash in the United States in decades, when an Army helicopter collided with an airliner preparing to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Former NTSB and FAA crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti said that the ground controller lines up planes on taxiways and directs them where to go, but the pilots are expected to avoid other planes as they move at slow speeds while controllers focus on keeping the runways clear.
“You’re supposed to have situational awareness about where your wings are poking out at and what they could hit as you’re taxiing,” said Guzzetti, who is now an aviation safety consultant. “They (controllers) expect the flight crews to see each other since they’re taxiing at a slow speed. And the controller’s main function is to make sure the runway is clear for takeoff and landings.”
Because this happened at night and planes typically turn off their nose lights while taxiing, it may have been more difficult for the pilots to see exactly where the other plane was, Guzzetti said. A plane’s taxi lights are on the wings. The landing lights are used to improve visibility and help make sure other pilots can see the plane, but the FAA encourages pilots to be careful not to blind other pilots because landing lights can also impair night vision.
“Delta will work with all relevant authorities to review what occurred as safety of our customers and people comes before all else,” the statement from Delta said. “We apologize to our customers for the experience.”
The Delta Connection aircraft involved in the collision were operated by Endeavor Air. Both are CRJ-900 planes, said the FAA, which is investigating along with the NTSB. The planes can seat 70 to 90 passengers.
LaGuardia Airport is one of 35 major airports where the FAA has installed advanced surface radar systems that help track aircraft and vehicles on the ground and alert controllers to potential conflicts. It wasn’t clear what role the system played in this collision.
Guzzetti said he’s not sure if that system would have sounded an audible alarm for these planes on a taxiway even though the system would have shown both planes on a display. The primary purpose of the system is to prevent collisions on runways.
The passengers on both planes were provided meals and hotel rooms and rebooked on flights leaving on Thursday.
This blog contains links from which we may earn a commission.Credit: Dave Adamson/Unsplash
Traditionally, the fullback played as a blocker, clearing the way for running backs or quarterbacks. The athletes who played the position tended to be large, physical, intimidating players, and while they would also be used to collect some passes, their primary role in the team was to block.
More recently, the position has fallen out of favor.
Only a single fullback was even picked in this year’s draft, although some teams are starting to transition existing players into quasi-fullbacks – running backs who can also block.
The Eagles
Having won last year’s Super Bowl, the Eagles are once again among the favourites to lift the trophy this year, having been given odds of +700 to do so. The event remains one of the most significant betting events of the calendar and is not only popular in the US but overseas, with bettors using secure offshore wagering accounts to find the best odds and bet on their NFL favourites.
According to sports betting expert Steven Brown, the NFL, in general, is one of the most popular sports for betting in the US.
The Eagles will prove popular once again this year, and one of the reasons some neutrals will be rooting for them is because they are effectively reintegrating the fullback position – a position that has become somewhat nostalgic.
1) Keith Byars
Byars was the tenth overall pick in the 1986 NFL Draft, when he was picked up by the Eagles. He had enjoyed an excellent college career, although his senior year was blighted by a foot injury, which reoccurred when Byars tried rushing back before the injury had fully healed. He was a multifunctional player, slotting in as running back and right end as well as fullback, and he was known for excellent running, efficient pass catching, and, critically for the fullback role, his blocking skills. He is considered by many to be the best fullback the Eagles have ever had.
Byars remained with the Eagles until 1993, when he joined the Miami Dolphins. He would also go on to play for the New England Patriots and the New York Jets and was widely regarded at all the clubs he played for. He retired from playing in 1998, losing his final game with the New York Jets, when they were beaten by the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.
2) Kevin Turner
PHOTO: Dave Adamson/Unsplash
Two years after Byars left the Eagles, Kevin Turner took his place in the fullback role. Turner had excelled as a blocker with the Alabama Crimson Tide college team, and, as a result, he was picked in the third round of the 1992 draft by the New England Patriots. He played three seasons for New England before he moved to the Eagles and played five seasons. Turner finished his career in 1999 after suffering two neck injuries.
He won the Ed Block Courage Award for having played through previous injuries. Following his retirement, Turner led a lawsuit against the NFL regarding concussions in the sport. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2016 – his passing was later attributed to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, caused by repeated head injuries.
3) Jon Ritchie
Jon Ritchie was widely considered one of the best high school fullbacks in the country. Despite being courted by Penn State, he opted to play college football for Michigan. After transferring to Stanford, he was initially deployed as a linebacker but eventually transitioned back to fullback.
In 1998, he was picked by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the draft and spent five seasons there before joining the Eagles in 2003. After two years playing fullback for Philadelphia, Ritchie retired from playing and took up a role commentating in Philly.
4) Leonard Weaver
Leonard Tony Weaver III had a relatively short career and only saw a single season with the Eagles, but that one season was a glowing one. Having played a linebacker and H-back for Carson-Newman College, Weaver signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Here, he converted to the fullback position and signed a one-year extension in 2008.
After the 2008 season, he left the Seahawks and joined the Eagles as an unrestricted free agent. He was widely considered the best fullback in the league by the end of the 2009 season, but was injured in his first carry of the 2010 season, ultimately being forced to retire in 2011.
5) Ben VanSumeren
Although the fullback position has largely fallen out of favor, one player who wants to see it resurrected is Ben VanSumeren. VanSumeren was recruited to play fullback for Michigan at college, but soon converted to the running back position and then linebacker. He was picked up by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
“It’s something I did growing up, and it is something I did in college as well, and so there has never been a time when I felt I had to knock the rust off.”
Before he was catching the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl for Kansas City, Mecole Hardman was on the Jets to begin the 2023 season. Hardman was upset with his role and usage in New York. That’s nothing new for NFL players, but the case was so extreme for Hardman that he could have leaked the team’s gameplan to opponents ahead of multiple games.
Yes, I’m told there was validated belief from the #Jets that WR Mecole Hardman, frustrated by his lack-of usage, leaked game plans to the opposition, as implied by several players (Sauce Gardner, Kenny Yeboah) today.
In the most Eagles turn of events ever, they may have had the Jets’ gameplan and still lost. The Eagles came into Week 6 undefeated, but fell 20-14 in the Meadowlands. The Eagles blew a 14-3 along the way in the Jets franchise’s first-ever win over the Eagles.
Hardman was traded back to Kansas City, where he previously won two Super Bowls, three days after the Eagles-Jets game. He went on to nab his third Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs in February.
The New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is slamming woke ESPN after being banned from “The Pat McAfee Show” for the rest of the NFL season for suggesting that Jimmy Kimmel had ties to the late billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Let me show you what a disingenuous, hypocritical clown this guy is. Kimmel last night whined that Aaron Rodgers said he was on the Epstein list and says calling someone a pedophile isn’t something you say without facts. “The truth still matters.”
Fox News reported that Kimmel threatened to sue Rodgers after he linked the liberal late night host to Epstein while appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week.
“There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who are really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Rodgers said. “I’ll tell you what, if that list comes out, I definitely will be popping some sort of bottle.”
While appearing on “The Pat McAffee Show” again on Tuesday, Rodgers said that the statement released afterwards by ESPN senior vice president production Mike Foss didn’t really help the situation.
“I don’t understand… a Mike Foss comment because he didn’t help out either,” Rodgers said. “And I’m going to quote Mike Foss. He said, ‘Aaron made a dumb and factually incorrect joke about Jimmy Kimmel. That should never have happened. We all realized that in the moment.’ Mike, you’re not helping. You’re not helping because I just read earlier exactly what I said,”
“I feel like I made a statement about not wanting to be on a list to come out … ‘We realized that in the moment?’ What are you talking about?” he added.
Aaron Rodgers just might be my new favorite person in the entire NFL.
He’s telling it like it is, he stood up against the vaxxines not being safe & effective (as claimed), said what he said about Kimmel on the Epstein list (for a reason) and doesn’t give a sh*t what Kimmel or… pic.twitter.com/Ik6Box4BnE
Rodgers also pointed out that he never claimed that Kimmel was a pedophile.
“I was referring to the fact that if there’s a list, which again, this hasn’t come out yet,” Rodgers said. “There was just a deposition, and there are names on it, then that would be the second time that soft brained, junior college student, wacko, anti-vax, antisemite, purveyor, spreader of misinformation, conspiracy theorist, MAGA, whatever other things that have been said by him and other people in the media would be right twice.”
“Let me just say, that is the truth, No. 1. No. 2, I totally understand how serious an allegation of pedophilia would be,” he continued. “So, for him to be upset about that, I get it. Did you watch the quote because that’s exactly what I said? Verbatim. What I said on the show.”
Rodgers went on to say that he wasn’t “stupid” enough to accuse Kimmel of pedophilia.
“I’m not stupid enough, even though you think I’m an idiot, and you made a lot of comments about my intelligence. But I’m not stupid enough to accuse you of that with absolutely zero evidence, concrete evidence,” he stated. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I’m glad and I think we can agree on something is that, one, those crimes are heinous and, two, and I’m glad you’re not on a list because those who are on the list — and this is what I think we can agree on — that, at minimum, there should be an inquiry into their involvement,” he concluded. “Especially if they went to the island. And, at maximum, there should be an investigation into it.”
Aaron Rodgers didn’t say Kimmel was a pedo. He said Kimmel didn’t want the Epstein list out. And there’s a lot of backstory that as far as I can tell, only one real journalist @SherwoodStrauss, took the time to understand. Ethan is really really good. pic.twitter.com/b4mNYKZBAu
The next day, McAfee announced that Rodgers would not be appearing on his show again for the rest of the NFL season.
“So ‘Aaron Rodgers Tuesday: Season 4’ is done,” McEAfee said on Wednesday, according to Daily Mail. “There’s gonna be a lot of people that are happy with that – myself included to be honest with you.”
“The way it ended, it got real loud,” he added. “I’m happy that’s not going to be in my mentions going forward, which is great news. Some of his thoughts and opinions though do p*** off a lot of people.”
Disappointed by McAfee’s approach!
Disney/ESPN won.
Aaron Rodgers suspended from “The Pat McAfee Show” after his comments on Jimmy Kimmel.
McAfee said he was “happy” Rodgers wouldn’t be back on the show because of the drama it caused.
What do you think about this? Let us know in the comments section.
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An Ivy leaguer, proud conservative millennial, history lover, writer, and lifelong New Englander, James specializes in the intersection of culture and politics.
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The Jets now play a December game in their division against a real contender, which means the Dolphins, and the problem is that it matters a lot more to the Dolphins than it does to them.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way, of course, back when it all started for the Jets on that Monday night against the Bills; when the Jets suffered their biggest loss of the season on a night when they actually won an overtime game. When they looked at the schedule then and saw the Dolphins in Miami the second-to-last Sunday before Christmas, they had to think first place might be on the line, but for both teams and not the home team.
Now the Jets play this game with the quarterback who wasn’t supposed to be their quarterback, near the end of a season that was supposed to be so full of possibilities because Aaron Rodgers had come to town, before he got hurt and long before all the crazy comeback talk, comeback talk about this season even after an Achilles injury, as Rodgers tried to convince Pat McAfee and the rest of us that he was some kind of football Lazarus.
Only now the comeback to talk about, with four games left, is about the quarterback who wasn’t supposed to be the Jets quarterback, Zach Wilson, who last week threw a whole lot of Lazarus and whole lot of game at the Houston Texans. Wilson, who had been benched for Tim Boyle, got his job back and last Sunday played the game of his life, which is actually saying plenty in the same season when he and the Jets beat the Eagles, the best win by so much this season for either the Jets or the Giants it’s not even close.
Now he tries to do it again, against another first-place team, the one from his own division this time. It is why that is the game to watch Sunday and he’s the quarterback to watch, even with everybody’s current cutlet obsession about a nice local guy named Tommy DeVito. DeVito is the better story right now, as he and the Giants once again draw a team, the Saints, that doesn’t have a winning record (the Giants’ wins this season have come against teams whose combined record is 13-26). Wilson, though, showed last Sunday that he has it in him to be a better quarterback.
It doesn’t mean he will do it again, or will ever turn out to be the player Joe Douglas thought he was drafting out of Brigham Young. It doesn’t change the fact that the Jets have done everything except hire skywriters to tell the kid they don’t want him past this season. As fast as Wilson is in the open field, it may turn out in the end that the game is too fast for him, despite the kind of arm he showed you against the Eagles and then against the Texans, when the Jets waxed a team that had their own No. 2 overall pick, CJ Stroud, at quarterback.
But Wilson, who had been counted out again, just because counting him out long ago became one of the national pastimes around here, wasn’t just the numbers he threw at the Texans and at us on a rainy and windy Sunday when you thought we might end up with the kind of 3-0 game the Vikings and Raiders played later. It wasn’t just that he threw an almost perfect game in the second half (despite a bad fumble) and ended up with 27-for-31 and over 300 passing yards that got him named AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
It was something else, and something more, last Sunday:
Wilson was really fun to watch. For all the nice moments DeVito gave us against the Packers, especially the end, the Packers did everything except Christmas-wrap that game for him and for the Giants on Monday night. It was different with Wilson, who gave you a game last Sunday. Now we do see if he can do it again, against a first-place team like the Dolphins, but a first-place team whose defense got lit up by Will Levis and the Titans at the same time the Giants were playing the Packers.
Here is one of the things Wilson said about what the Jets — finally — did on offense:
“As an offense, everybody was clicking. Receivers were getting open and they were making the 50/50 plays. Hack [Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett] was calling an awesome game. The O-Line was giving me more than enough time to sit back there and make plays…When it’s truly 11 guys and you do your job on the field, those guys, they did it. The quarterback gets more credit than it’s deserved, but it is truly an offensive unit that went out there and I thought everyone went out there and played well and how can we get there again as an offense is the key.”
Dec. 11, 2023: Got to be startin’ somethin’
New York Daily News
Back page for Dec. 11, 2023: No. 1 QB again, Zach lifts Jets, and himself off scrap heap for stunner over Texans. Zach Wilson takes over as starting quarterback again and leads Jets to shocking 30-6 upset of Texans at rainy Meadowlands Sunday afternoon.
Getting there again as an offense isn’t just a key. It’s everything for the Jets as they try to make this look like the season they thought they were going to have, even without No. 8.
Is there still drama around Zach Wilson? There has been since he was drafted. Some of it he created himself, with those comments he made after the Patriots game the season before this one. Some of it is because he was the second overall pick and has been such a disappointment to here. A lot of it is because he is the quarterback of a New York team, which is like having a career in the place Looie Carnesecca used to call Macy’s window even if he does play his home games in Jersey.
But even before he showed up as big as he did against the Texans and played the kind of game that Rodgers was supposed to play for the Jets this season, he read and heard that he didn’t want his old job back, as if we were actually supposed to believe he was afraid to come out of the locker room. Maybe it was because the Jets, who aren’t good at keeping secrets but tremendous at looking for cover, really have made it clear they don’t want him past this season.
Nobody knows if he is ever going to be a frontline starter in professional football, or if he is going to end up being a backup who occasionally causes the crowd to go wild the way DeVito is doing that at the moment for the Giants.
But know this: Wilson has been terrific off the field this season. Last Sunday he was as tough as he’s ever been in the pros against the Texans, after a career where the Jets have let him down a lot more than he’s let them down, at almost every turn.
Maybe he won’t do it again against the Dolphins. I hope he does.
STANTON SLIMMING DOWN AGAIN, NBA STILL NEEDS LEBRON & IT’S TIME FOR DRAYMOND TO GO …
Giancarlo Stanton is slimming down before next season, and stop me if you’ve heard that one before.
As we move up on Christmas Day games in the NBA, and with more than a quarter of the season already in the books, here’s what we still don’t know:
Whether the Nets or the Knicks are the better team.
Speaking of basketball shows?
LeBron, as he moves up on his 39th birthday, is still the best one of all.
And the league needs him as much as ever.
Because guess what?
If pro basketball was as strong as Adam Silver wants it to be, and people still pretend that it is, they wouldn’t need to trick it up with an in-season tournament.
If you’re keeping score at home, Shohei Ohtani just signed for 70 times more money than George Steinbrenner paid for the Yankees.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto really is the best pitcher pretty much nobody has ever seen.
Has there ever been three better hitters at the top of any batting order — I mean, ever — than Mookie Betts, Shohei, Freddie Freeman?
Or ever been three former MVPs at the top of anybody’s order?
Juan Soto didn’t exactly sound as if he sees himself ending up in Monument Park someday, did he?
Once Draymond Green blew up the Warriors’ chance at another title, when he got himself suspended from a Game 5 in the NBA Finals against LeBron and the Cavs when the Warriors were ahead three games to one and going home to clinch.
Now he tries to blow up an entire season.
At least the guy is consistent.
You know what the deal ought to be with Draymond?
He goes.
And before the Warriors and the team does some kind of welfare check on him as a way of shortening his suspension, everybody go back and look at his explanation of the play — and backhand punch — that got him suspended.
Because he sure sounded pretty calm and pretty rational to me.
I’m sorry, but whose idea was it to make Chargers coach Brandon Staley answer on-camera questions at halftime when his team was getting waxed 42-0 on Thursday night?
Rodon better be better in 2024.
Just putting that out there.
For the last time, it wasn’t the refs’ job to tell Kadarius Toney to line up properly.
If it’s true that Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie are going to play Danny Ocean’s parents in an “Ocean’s 11” prequel, I’m in.
Red Sox fans are starting to talk about 2018 the way they used to talk about 1918, if it’s any consolation to Yankee fans.
However, Tim Boyle will get another opportunity to lead the Jets offense in Week 13 against the Atlanta Falcons.
“We’re giving Timmy another shot to roll next week,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Obviously, there’s things that he could have done better, there are things that he had no control over and I know he battled out there.
“We were able to get to certain calls that we were hoping to do. We were able to execute a lot of the different things that we wanted to execute, it just didn’t come to full fruition.”
In his first start in two seasons and the fourth of his career, Boyle completed 27 of 38 passes for 179 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He was also sacked seven times, a direct result of the Jets having to use their eighth different offensive line combination in 11 games.
Boyle previously started three games for the Detroit Lions in 2021 when Jared Goff was injured.
The Jets’ offense has been abysmal after Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles’ tear in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills. Zach Wilson started the next nine games until he was benched for Boyle during the third quarter against Buffalo in Week 11 after continued poor play and holding onto the football too long. This season, Wilson has thrown for 1,944 yards with six touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The only other QB option for the Jets is Trevor Siemian, who was recently signed to the active roster after the team signed him to the practice squad in late September. When asked about Siemian possibly starting, Saleh said, “I’m not there yet.”
The Jets (4-7) are currently on a four-game losing streak. The team’s inability to find the end zone is a significant reason for the downslide.
Gang Green has just 10 offensive touchdowns in 11 games. That has led to the Jets ranking last in total yards (262.2) and 30th in points per game (14.8). The Jets are also last in the NFL in third down conversion (24.1%) and red zone touchdown percentage (28%).
The Jets hoped hiring offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett would improve the offense, but their yards and points per game are worse than a season ago when the team finished 7-10. However, Hackett will continue to be the offensive play caller.
“When you look at it all — and again, it’s a little bit of everything,” Saleh said after Friday’s loss. “Whether the calls could be better, whether the execution can be better, whether our one-on-one battles could be better — it’s taking advantage of the situations we have when we get them.
“Do I think play caller will fix that? I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you on that one.”
Hackett’s relationship with Rodgers is likely the primary reason he will remain the offensive play caller moving forward. With a headset, Rodgers watched the Jets lose to the Dolphins from the sideline. After his Achilles tear, Rodgers initially rehabbed in California. But now, Rodgers will join the team full-time in New Jersey for the season’s final six games.
“He is in the building,” Saleh said.
There has been chatter about Rodgers returning to the field before the end of the season. However, with the Jets playoff chances on life support along with the offensive line issues, that may not happen.
The Jets could open Rodgers’ practice window sometime in December, assuming doctors clear him.
“With regard to practice, I don’t have anything for you guys on that,” Saleh said. “Like I said, when we get a doctor’s note that says he is cleared, he will be cleared for practice.”
DOLPHINS SLAM TURF AT METLIFE
The Dolphins may have won a key divisional game against a bitter rival on Black Friday, but they lost one of the better defensive players in the process.
Linebacker Jaelan Phillips tore his Achilles and will miss the rest of the 2023 season. He registered 43 tackles and 6.5 sacks for the Dolphins this season.
“It was emotional,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “I think that’s one of the special things about this particular team, is there’s a lot of shared journeys. Everybody sees what he puts in on a daily basis and everybody knows how bad he wants to take steps in his game and be absolutely great in this league, which he has and we’ve been very proud of him the whole season.”
Following Phillips’ injury, the conversation turned to the controversial turf at MetLife Stadium. So far this season, Phillips, Rodgers and Jets defensive tackle Al Woods have torn their Achilles on the same field.
MetLife did change their turf field last offseason, going from slit film to an updated version of FieldTurf. The change was supposed to be a safer alternative, but that has not been the case.
Many around the league, including Eagles cornerback Darius Slay and Ravens coach John Harbaugh, have previously criticized the MetLife Stadium turf.
“Since being in the league, I’ve heard that field is trash,” Dolphins safety Jevon Holland said. “I don’t know the statistics or anything like that, but I do know turf increases the chance of getting hurt.”
Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert was also vocal about MetLife’s playing surface after seeing his teammate suffer a season-ending injury.
“No player wants to go down with a significant injury,” Mostert said. “You saw what happened to Rodgers, very first game within the first series. It just sucks. We got to do something about this turf and this playing surface because, obviously, it’s still a major problem. It just has to change.”
The Jets‘ offensive line has been like a game of musical chairs in the past two seasons. Gang Green hopes that their line will soon be stabilized with the news of a key veteran’s possible return.
When a player’s practice window is opened, the team has 21 days to either activate that player to the 53-man roster or shut them down for the remainder of the season.
“Just have to see how it feels in practice,” Brown said Wednesday. “Everything I’ve been doing to this point, sprinting, change of direction, stuff like that. Trying to simulate the game action, but I won’t know exactly how it feels until I’m pushing, playing against people who are 300-plus pounds, real pass protection, really putting stress on it.
“Once I get a couple of days of that, I will have a better idea.”
The 38-year-old eventually returned after missing the first four games of that season, but his shoulder hampered him throughout the entire year. He played in 12 games and allowed one sack after basically playing with one healthy shoulder. But Brown was eventually shut down for the Jets season finale once the team was eliminated the previous week.
After having offseason shoulder surgery and not practicing during OTAs (organized team activities) last spring, the offensive lineman was eventually cleared to practice late last August.
Jets coach Robert Saleh said Brown was so eager to return to the field after his shoulder surgery that he felt like the team might have “compromised” some of his rehab in terms of the speed of it.
“I was a bit ambitious in my recovery time trying to get back,” Brown said. “I don’t think I was as strong as I could have been.
“The time off, I had a chance to get stronger and get a bit more adjusted than I was before. Coming back and having a few days of practice and going into a game, I don’t think I was quite ready yet.
“I do feel a lot better now, but I still have to trust the process of getting back into it and see how it feels and go from there.”
After Brown’s hip injury, the Jets began shuffling their offensive line.
Becton, who was starting at right tackle, moved into Brown’s left tackle spot. Then Alijah Vera-Tucker, who usually played at right guard, moved to right tackle. Rookie Joe Tippmann was inserted into the starting offensive line at right guard.
Center Connor McGovern (knee) and right guard Wes Schweitzer (calf) have been placed on injured reserve after last Sunday’s game against the Giants. Tippmann (quadriceps) has also been injured.
With all the changes on the Jets offensive line, it has been difficult to generate any continuity, which has hindered the offense a bit. Gang Green ranks 29th (273.3 yards per game) and 26th in points per game (18).
“It’s very frustrating because … everything starts up front,” Saleh said. “You want to get creative and you want to do different things but the protection has to hold up and a lot of times the protection, it comes from continuity and guys just knowing how to play off each other, how to pass off games, how to feel one another in their sets or in the run game, whatever it is.
“We love the guys we have in our room, we do. It’s just a matter of them just playing together and getting together and playing together and playing next to one another and communicating with one another. If we can just get some continuity going, the group that we have is good enough.”
Now that Brown appears close to returning, that will give the Jets some options on their offensive line. The Jets could move Becton back to right tackle and can play Billy Turner or Max Mitchell at right guard.
“Gotta put your work in,” Becton said about the possibility of moving back to right tackle. “The muscle memory of moving back to the other side.
“I just want to play football, I didn’t play football for two years. So I really don’t give a damn about where I’m at. I just want to play football.”
While the Jets hope brighter days are ahead as they hope to shake off the bad mojo surrounding the team since Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury, the schedule brings the mighty Kansas City Chiefs to town. The defending Super Bowl champions that, oh yeah, also feature the best quarterback in the sport in Patrick Mahomes.
The Jets pulled off a stunner last season by defeating the Buffalo Bills at home. Nearly a year later, Gang Green will look to have a Buster Douglas-like moment. Douglas pulled off one of the great boxing upsets in history when he took down heavyweight champ Mike Tyson in 1990 in a fight nobody thought he could win.
“He’s a special talent,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said about Mahomes. “Some of the throws he makes are disgusting from a defensive perspective, but they’re super talented.
“He knows how to bide time and the offense … they’ve done a really nice job since the last time we had the chance to play them back in the Super Bowl.”
Saleh was referring to his previous NFL life as the defensive coordinator of the 49ers when Mahomes and the Chiefs beat San Francisco for the NFL crown after the 2019 season.
“Their O-line is really talented, much more talented than it was, the skill guys have speed, [Travis] Kelce’s gotten a heck of a lot better, that back, number 10 [Isiah Pacheco], he’s an absolute dog with the ball in his hands, a very physical runner.
“And then, of course, Andy [Reid], sometimes I wonder if he just draws it in the dirt as the game goes on, with some of the concepts that they have. It’s going to be a challenge, for sure.”
When the Week 4 Sunday Night Football matchup between the Jets and Chiefs was first revealed, everyone anticipated an O.K. Corral-like duel between Rodgers and Mahomes. Instead, Zach Wilson versus Mahomes is basically a sidebar to Taylor Swift (rumored to be in attendance to watch Kelce at MetLife Stadium).
Wilson’s tenure as Jets quarterback has been dreadful, and his stats this season are even worse than his first two years in the league. He has passed for 467 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions while completing 52.4% of his passes, which is a career low. Wilson also has a QB rating of 57.
The Jets signed free agent veteran Trevor Siemian to the practice squad this week as an insurance policy since Tim Boyle is the only other quarterback on the Jets roster outside of Wilson. On a national TV stage, Sunday’s game against the Chiefs could make or break Wilson.
Throughout his career, Wilson has faced intense criticism from fans and the media. However, the best quarterback in Jets history, Joe Namath, is now calling out Wilson for his inept performance against the Patriots.
The walls were caving in on Wilson last season as he was eventually benched after failing to accept any accountability after losing to the Patriots last November. He was later benched again after he started for the injured Mike White.
You can’t totally blame the Jets misfortunes on Wilson as Gang Green was counting on Rodgers to snap its 12-season playoff drought and contend for a Super Bowl.
But this is the hand that the Jets were dealt after declining to sign a better solution at the backup QB spot. The Jets have one of the best defenses in the NFL and a solid special teams unit. Wilson has to perform better or risk getting benched.
With Siemian now with the Jets, Sunday could be Wilson’s last opportunity to show Saleh and the Jets coaching staff he gives them the best chance to win. Jets fans are angry and want results, something Wilson hasn’t given them enough.
“This narrative outside of this locker room is different from the narrative that’s in this locker room,” Wilson said. “I truly believe the guys in this locker room all have each other’s back.
“I got theirs and I feel like they got mine. We’re going to keep doing everything we can to improve and those guys are doing a good job of realizing, you know what, no one understands what’s going on besides us in this locker room.
“We’re going to do everything we can to keep improving and getting better.”
If there was ever a game in which the Jets needed their defense to step up significantly, this is it. Gang Green has registered just one sack in its last two games against the Cowboys and Patriots.
The defensive line of the Jets was supposed to be one of the strongest in the NFL, but that hasn’t proven to be the case thus far. They also still need to create turnovers, which they capitalized on in the 22-16 OT victory against the Bills.
Jets cornerback D.J. Reed told reporters before the season that they had an opportunity to have a historic defense like the 1985 Bears or the 2013 Seahawks, but that remains to be seen. Although the Jets are good, they’ve had lapses, whether it’s not getting off the field on third downs against the Cowboys or allowing a 58-yard touchdown to Patriots tight end Pharaoh Brown.
“I really believe that is something we are built for because our defense is so rule-based and principle-based,” Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said.
“I really believe it allows our guys to problem solve better than when you got a lot of one-off defense, you got a lot of defense that provides a little bit of an illusion to the quarterback, but the players don’t know in and out, so when you do get a principle that is something you haven’t practiced, something that is one-off.
“I think it gives your players the better opportunity to problem solve their way through that, but at the same time, even when you play it right, you got tremendous speed on that side of the ball and you got a quarterback that absolutely knows how to deliver the deeper balls.”
The Jets just need to learn how to deliver that upset punch.
The injury happened when Jets left tackle Duane Brown tried to cut Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd. But Floyd avoided Brown, which allowed him to sack Rodgers.
It appeared the play in which Rodgers was injured was designed for him to throw it away on a three-step drop. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson was open across the middle, but Rodgers held on to the football and took the sack
“It sucks, man,” Brown said on Monday night. “I’ve got all the respect and love for Aaron.”
At first, it appeared Rodgers was fine as he got up after the sack. But he quickly fell back down to the ground as trainers and Saleh came out to the field to check up on the former four-time NFL MVP.
Rodgers would then be escorted to the medical tent to be looked at. He was later taken to the X-ray room by cart as he was seen in a walking boot after the Jets ruled him out for the remainder of the game.
To say Rodgers’ injury is devastating is an understatement. After acquiring Rodgers in a trade from the Packers in April, many thought the Jets would end their 12-season playoff drought and contend for a Super Bowl championship. Now those prospects seem bleak as Gang Green will turn to Zach Wilson, who it selected No. 2 overall in the 2021 draft.
It has been an up-and-down career for Wilson, as he was once pegged as the future of the Jets franchise. However, he was benched multiple times last year during the Jets’ 19-3 loss to the Jaguars when he threw for 92 yards and an interception. Jets’ fans at MetLife Stadium booed Wilson as he was benched for Chris Streveler, as he didn’t start in the team’s final two games of the 2022 season.
Throughout the preseason, the Jets said they were getting back to basics with Wilson’s game as he learned a brand new offense in Nathaniel Hackett’s system as they also worked on the 24-year-old’s mechanics. Now we will see how much Wilson has improved.
Monday night was a good start for Wilson as he helped the Jets defeat the Bills 22-16, completing 14 of 21 passes for 140 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Saleh said Wilson would be the Jets starter quarterback if Rodgers was out for the season, but don’t be surprised if the team signs a veteran quarterback behind Wilson. Tim Boyle is the only other quarterback on the Jets roster, as he’s on the team’s practice squad.
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. surged toward a more-than two-year high Thursday, after the air carrier reported second-quarter profit and revenue that rose above forecast, and boosted its full-year outlook citing continued “robust” travel demand.
Delta DAL, -1.46%
said net income more than doubled to $1.83 billion, or $2.84 a share, from $735 million, or $1.15 a share, in the year-ago period.
Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $2.68 beat the FactSet consensus of $2.40.
Revenue grew 12.7% to $15.78 billion, well above the FactSet consensus of $14.44 billion,
For 2023, the company raised its EPS guidance range to $6 to $7 from $5 to $6, and increased its outlook for free cash flow to $3 billion from $2 billion.
The stock jumped 3.5% in premarket trading, putting it on track to open at the highest price seen during regular-sessions hours since April 2021.
“Consumer demand for air travel remains robust,” said Chief Executive Ed Bastian.
Traffic increased 18.0% to 60.80 billion revenue passenger miles while capacity grew 17.1% to 68.99 billion available seat miles. Load factor improved one percentage point to 88%, to beat the FactSet consensus of 87.2%.
The stock has run up 42.1% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the U.S. Global Jets exchange-traded fund JETS, -0.81%
has climbed 22.1% and the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.74%
has gained 9.3%.
President Joe Biden rolled out a plan on Monday that targets how airlines handle flight cancellations and significant delays that are within a carrier’s control.
Biden said his administration will propose a new regulation later this year that would require airlines to provide cash compensation in addition to refunds and amenities for stranded passengers.
Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. surged Thursday, after the air carrier swung to a first-quarter profit as revenue rose above expectations, and said it was “confident” in its full-year projections given a “strong” outlook for the current quarter.
The company reported a net loss that narrowed to $363 million, or 57 cents a share, from $940 million, or $1.48 a share, in the same period a year ago.
