The Pittsburgh Steelers cruised to a second consecutive victory on Monday night.
Aaron Rodgers finished the night with just four incomplete passes in the 28-15 win, which also mathematically eliminated the Miami Dolphins from playoff contention.
The game also marked a reunion of sorts for Rodgers.
Zach Wilson, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, spent one season behind Rodgers on the New York Jets’ depth chart. Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2024 before reaching a one-year deal with the Dolphins in the offseason.
Aaron Rodgers (8) attempts a pass as Zach Wilson (2) looks on during the New York Jets’ OTAs at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center June 9, 2023, in Florham Park, N.J. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Wilson and Rodgers briefly reconnected after Monday night’s game. During the moment, Wilson offered best wishes to the Super Bowl winner for his recent marriage to a still-unknown bride.
“Congrats on getting married,” Wilson told Rodgers on the field at the Steelers’ home stadium. In June, Rodgers revealed that he had been married for “a couple of months.”
In the time since the shocking announcement, Rodgers’ spouse has not entered the public spotlight. Before this year’s union surfaced, Rodgers was engaged to actress Shailene Woodley.
Aaron Rodgers stands in the 11th tee box during the final round of the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course July 13, 2025, in Stateline, Nev. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Wilson’s stint as the Jets’ backup quarterback in 2023 was short-lived. Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury on just the fourth play of his regular season debut with the Jets. Wilson was thrust back into the starting role, a position he held during his first two tumultuous seasons with the team.
Wilson ultimately appeared in 12 games in 2023, and the Jets finished that season with a 7-10 record.
New York Jets quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, left, and Zach Wilson talk as they stretch at the team’s training complex in Florham Park, N.J., July 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The Cincinnati Bengals will attempt to end a two-game losing skid when they visit the Dolphins on Sunday. Cincinnati is expected to face rookie Quinn Ewers — not Wilson — after the Dolphins benched veteran quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Wednesday.
BALTIMORE — The Broncos didn’t lose because of their second offensive snap of the day.
They didn’t get beat by 31 points because of one single mistake.
But when Denver got the ball first, they also couldn’t afford to turn it over against high-powered Baltimore.
That’s just what happened, though, when rookie quarterback Bo Nix’s first pass of the day caromed off Lil’Jordan Humphrey’s hands and into the waiting arms of Ravens safety Ar’Darius Washington.
“It was a little roll-out and I tried to go make a play,” Humphrey said afterward. “I obviously didn’t and that’s on me. I know better. I’ve got to put two hands up, you know what I mean. I’ve got to move past it and move forward and on to next week.
“It’s a mistake on me.”
Nix hadn’t thrown an interception since a Week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. All six of his picks, now, have come in Denver’s four losses. In those games, he has two touchdown passes. In Denver’s five wins, Nix has six touchdown passes.
It’s the second straight week that Denver’s first possession ended because of a turnover on a play to Humphrey. He fumbled last week on a catch that eventually resulted in a Carolina touchdown drive. This week the Broncos defense actually forced a Baltimore punt, but the Ravens proceeded to score on seven straight drives after that.
Sutton’s big day. Courtland Sutton is doing it all. And then some.
The Broncos receiver not only logged his second straight 100-yard receiving outing — the first time in his career he’s gone back-to-back in that department — but he also threw a fourth-down touchdown pass to quarterback Bo Nix on a trick play.
“We called it at the right time,” Nix said. “We knew they were going to be in (Cover) 0 funnel and the guy actually made a good play of retreating and trailing. Courtland looked pretty good again on that play.”
In a Week 7 win at New Orleans, Sutton had no targets for the first time in his career. In two games since, Denver’s top pass-catcher has 15 catches (21 targets) for 222 yards.
He’s also completed a pair of passes for 30 total yards and a touchdown.
“He’s just competing at a high level and I think he’s taking ownership in that room,” Nix said. “He’s taking pride and value and he’s playing with a lot of passion, I think. … He’s working really hard at it and I can see that each and every week. As the leader he is and the captain, he’s holding up his end and I respect that out of him.”
Inactives. The Broncos had a fairly normal set of inactives and practice squad elevations Sunday. They signed fullback Michael Burton back to the practice squad Saturday, as expected after his Friday release, and he was on the field in his normal role against the Ravens. So, too, was practice squad inside linebacker Kwon Alexander.
Denver’s seven game-day inactives: QB Zach Wilson (emergency third QB), S P.J. Locke (thumb), TE Greg Dulcich, CB Damarri Mathis, CB Kris Abrams-Draine, OLB Dondrea Tillman and OL Frank Crum.
OL Alex Palczewski returned to the active list after missing three weeks with a high-ankle sprain. The Broncos had DL Eyioma Uwazurike up in place of Mathis for some extra heft against Baltimore’s excellent rushing attack.
INDIANAPOLIS — One of the Broncos’ most heated position battles of training camp was on display at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday.
The quarterback competition may garner the biggest headlines, but the running backs have locked into a fierce struggle for playing time — and that came through loud and clear in the Broncos’ 34-30 victory over the Colts in their preseason opener.
In head coach Sean Payton’s offense, the run game is essential. He is high on having a backfield filled with versatile players. On Sunday, nearly each running back impacted the game in a multitude of ways, as Denver outrushed Indianapolis, 131-64.
“They all had a spark,” Payton said.
However, their performance emphasized the tough decision looming over the organization of how many running backs it keeps on the initial 53-man roster and who.
Javonte Williams started the game, rushing for 15 yards on four carries in the opening quarter. Then the young guys went to work. McLaughlin had 56 total yards (30 rushing and 26 receiving) on nine touches. He averaged 4.3 yards on seven carries.
Estime had 10 carries for 31 yards while undrafted rookie Blake Watson was active down the stretch. In the fourth quarter, Watson showed why Denver signed him when he caught a short pass from Wilson before bursting down the sideline for a 33-yard gain. Watson finished with 10 touches for 59 yards, including 26 on the ground, and a touchdown.
Tyler Badie had his moment in the spotlight when he ran 11 yards for a touchdown to extend Denver’s lead to 27-17 with 2:18 to go in the third. Denver’s offense finished with three rushing touchdowns.
“We have a bunch of guys who can do it all,” Estime said. “We have smaller guys (and) bigger backs but no matter who you are, you gotta be able to (play) all three downs. I feel like it’s a great group of guys.”
While Denver’s backfield had its moments, veteran Samaje Perine offered a lowlight. In the first quarter, Perine couldn’t control a short pass from quarterback Jarrett Stidham. The ball juggled out of his hands and was picked off by Colts cornerback Kenny Moore. The failed reception was his only target, and he didn’t have a single rushing attempt the rest of the game.
As a whole, Payton wasn’t pleased with Denver’s ball security from the running backs, as they had two turnovers. In the third, Estime fumbled at the Broncos’ 47-yard line before cornerback Micah Abraham recovered the ball and scored to cut the deficit to 20-17 with 6:58 remaining. Later in the fourth, Watson fumbled a handoff from quarterback Zach Wilson that was recovered by the offense.
“Those are the things that you gotta make sure you clean up (and) those guys will learn from that,” Payton said.
During training camp, Williams, Estime and McLaughlin have stood out at running back. If Sunday was a reflection of what’s to come, that trio could be taking snaps this fall.
The Broncos had already anticipated McLaughlin to take another step in Year 2, while Williams was encouraged by Payton to lose 11 pounds, hoping to return to the player he was in college and as a rookie. Meanwhile, Payton thought Estime had the potential to be an early-down running back when the team took him in the fifth round in April.
If the Broncos decide to keep four running backs, Watson and Perine would be fighting for the final spot. Even though Perine was a reliable check-down option last season, Watson provides similar traits as a receiver and is quicker.
Sunday was a reflection of how tough the competition has been. And it has the potential to heat up even more as training camp progresses.
“We compete and push each other every day,” Estime said.
Can we just get on with it? Please? Declaring Steady Stiddy as your starter, as Payton more or less did for Sunday’s preseason opener at Indianapolis, is just delaying the inevitable. It’s cute for cute’s sake. It’s either an epic troll job or a backdoor message to Nix, picked 12th in this past spring’s draft to be your franchise quarterback, that his present isn’t promised.
“I’m not ready for a depth chart, but I have to get (the league) a depth chart,” Payton said after Tuesday’s practice. “So it’s easy to push the (younger) players to the back of the line and then make sure it’s kind of where we sit right now.
“And that’s really it. No, it’s a good question, but I’m not trying to send messages at all.”
Whatever. No. 10 turns 25 in February. Start the meter or get a different cab.
This isn’t 2021. This isn’t about Drew vs. Teddy, about dividing the family and picking a side. This isn’t about an unproven coach who desperately needs to win now, the way Uncle Vic Fangio had to and didn’t.
Broncos Country should be united around Nix, until he gives them ample cause, gives them enough evidence, to cut bait and turn the page. Which might be never.
But dang it, there’s only one way to find out.
It’s about 2025. And 2026. And 2027. Until then, you’re thumb-wrestling with the Raiduhs for third in the AFC West.
It’s about the long game. The Chiefs are the new Patriots; Patrick Mahomes is the new Tom Brady. The Chargers are casting their mercurial lots with Jim Harbaugh — which history says will burn very hot, burn very fast, and, fairly quickly, burn itself out.
Ask yourself this: If Nix is more Josh Rosen than Kyler Murray, wouldn’t you prefer to figure that out sooner as opposed to later?
Sure, Stidham probably gives you the best chance to win now. If your idea of “winning now” is 6-11. Better to stink young.
First-round QBs are like a sports car. In the wrong hands, such as those belonging to Nathaniel Hackett, it’s a sexy wreck waiting to happen.
But there’s a fine line between careful and constipated. You spent the dough to make a show. What’s the point of letting that bad boy sit in the garage all weekend, gathering dust in the darkness?
“I didn’t realize how fast he was,” linebacker Jonas Griffith said Tuesday, eyes widening, when asked about the Broncos’ rookie signal-caller. “It’s kind of crazy because he had (an opening), he was running, I think it was a few days ago, and I was like, ‘Whoa, he’s kind of fast.’ And I consider myself a fast guy.”
Let’s see how fast this kid does 0 to 60. What’s the worst that can happen?
Say Nix gives into his inner Lock, becomes a turnover machine, and stinks up the joint. Congratulations! You’ve backpedaled your way into another top-12 pick, something the Broncos haven’t had in consecutive springs since 2008 and 2009.
The former turned into tackle Ryan Clady. The latter turned into Knowshon Moreno.
“Rookies are at the back of the line,” Payton said.
With most NFL coaches, it’s best to weigh podium proclamations with several grains of salt. With Payton, you take half a shaker. Sunshine Sean is begrudgingly honest in front of a microphone, selectively honest when circled by tape recorders. We are the jackals and hyenas he feeds the way a parent feeds an irresponsible child’s pet hamster. Not because he wants to. Because he has to.
When it comes to any depth chart on Aug. 6, Payton’s right, in theory. It’s too early, it’s too soon, and who cares?
But here’s the difference: When you’ve declared an open QB competition, every rep, every sound bite, is a potential lean, a potential tell.
Although with Payton, who knows? In his six preseason openers since 2016, only two of the coach’s eventual or presumed starters actually took the first snaps of the preseason. Those honors usually went to backups such as Chase Daniel (2017), Tom Savage (2018), Teddy Bridgewater (2019) and Taysom Hill (2021).
Daniel never threw a regular-season pass in ’17. Savage wound up getting cut on Sept. 1 of ’18 after losing the backup battle to our old pal Teddy B.
“Like I said, there wasn’t a lot of thought,” Payton continued. “I mean, we just got the depth chart out (Tuesday) and that’s it. And that’s where we’re at now.”
Some seasons are about winning at all costs. Some are about development. You can split the difference, of course. But six years of always trying to thread that particular needle has left the Broncos a little cross-eyed.
Payton would sooner share a booth at Subway with Russell Wilson than punt 20-24 months of a precious, ticking clock. But in this league, sometimes the surest path forward is by taking two steps back first.
Did not practice: Physically Unable to Perform list — S Caden Sterns (knee), S Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee) and LB Drew Sanders (Achilles). Non-Football Injury list — RB Blake Watson (muscle strain). Out — OLB Nik Bonitto, OL Nick Gargiulo. Dropped out — S Brandon Jones (hamstring)
Payton told reporters after practice that Jones “tweaked” his hamstring and was being evaluated. He also expects Bonitto to be back to practice work Saturday.
QB Race Today
Zach Wilson did, indeed, get all the No. 1 reps during practice Friday, continuing the rotation that began earlier this week with Jarrett Stidham on Wednesday and Bo Nix on Thursday.
The Broncos didn’t waste any time, getting a 7-on-7 period and three team periods in during their first full-length camp practice of the summer. Head coach Sean Payton said afterward that the team put a heavy emphasis on third-down situations.
None of the three quarterbacks turned the ball over in team settings Friday, though Wilson and Nix were each almost picked by corners Riley Moss and Reese Taylor, respectively.
“There’s things you have to evaluate sometimes,” Payton said. “In other words, the pocket, was it broken down? There’s certain things that can take place that can affect their execution. So when you’re evaluating and breaking down the reps, you have to take all of that into account. I like the way they’re protecting the ball and I think they’re working through their progressions. … They’re getting a lot of looks.”
Top Play
On a Friday devoid of big, spectacular plays, beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Maybe you preferred a pretty looking toss play to the left for Jaleel McLaughlin? Or a couple of nice plays on the ball by Moss, the second-year corner? Or the continued, consistent pressure that the defensive line generated? All come with caveats: It’s early and more to the point they’re not wearing pads yet.
Thumbs Up
Reynolds’ all-around addition: Wide receiver Josh Reynolds made a couple of plays Friday and is already showing the kind of versatility Denver coveted in free agency. He’s a tall, long receiver, a smooth runner and a willing blocker.
“He’s flexible, he’s smart,” Payton said. “(Passing game coordinator) Johnny Morton worked with him in Detroit so we had a little bit more knowledge of the player. He loves playing. … He’s been a good addition.”
Welcome, Bo: Not surprisingly, the rookie quarterback got a big cheer from the crowd on hand Friday. With fans in attendance for the first time since Nix was selected No. 12 overall in April’s draft, it’s no surprise he got a warm welcome considering it’s the highest Denver’s drafted a quarterback since Jay Cutler went No. 11 in 2006.
Thumbs Down
Safety net?: The Broncos’ depth at safety is already a question mark with Sterns on PUP. If Jones ends up missing substantial time with the hamstring issue, Payton and company will have to take a realistic look at whether they’ve got enough depth on the roster.
Dink and dunk: The NFL’s not much of a home-run league these days. Not only that, but Payton talked about the situation-heavy work Friday, the still-early installation schedule and more that is all reality this time of year. Still, the Broncos’ trio of quarterbacks at some point is going to have to show the ability to attack down the field with the ball. That hasn’t shown up much yet this offseason.
Odds and Ends
• The evaluation changes dramatically for everyone when pads come on, but some positions more than others. One of the most interesting players to watch: Rookie RB Audric Estime. He’s a load and has looked good so far this week.
• Early means early — and it’s early — but so far the center battle has not seen as much rotation as the quarterbacks. Luke Wattenberg so far has seen most of the top-group work. We’ll see as time goes along if he’s truly leading or if Alex Forsyth or Sam Mustipher makes a move.
• Country megastar Kenny Chesney was on hand for practice Friday ahead of his Saturday night show at Empower Field. Chesney got a workout in in the morning and then had a chance to catch up with Payton, a longtime friend, before practice.
• Payton continues to like the youthful energy of his team and sounds like a coach who’s interested to see who grabs the bull by the horns at several different positions. “I think young and hungry can be very dangerous,” he said. “And I’ve told them that. I think that can be very successful.”
• Garett Bolles is excited to watch the quarterback battle play out, saying Friday, “They all can play, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. That’s how Coach Payton rolls. He’s not going to bring someone in here he doesn’t think he can play and run his scheme and run his offense. He’s had one great quarterback in Drew Brees and he has a certain way of doing things. He knows all three of these quarterbacks can be special for us. … All those guys I love dearly and it’s just my job to keep their jersey fresh. It doesn’t matter who’s back there as a left tackle.”
• One thing that does jump out about the trio of Denver quarterbacks is that each has mobility. Stidham might not have the same flat-out wheels that Nix or Wilson have, but they each do feel comfortable moving around. Another element of their games to watch as camp progresses. Who can use that to his advantage and who maybe over-relies on it?
Saturday schedule
The Broncos are back at it for the NFL’s Back Together Weekend. Parking lots open at 8 a.m., gates at 9 a.m., and practice begins at 10 a.m. Then Sunday is off before a six-day workweek next week.
Denver Post reporters Parker Gabriel and Ryan McFadden cover key storylines as the Broncos get ready to start 2024 training camp under Sean Payton, including Quinn Meinerz’s massive contract extension, whether Pat Surtain II might be next and how the three-man QB race between Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson sets up in the coming weeks. All that and more on the latest edition of the 1st & Orange Podcast.
Rescuing Zach Wilson is smart. Stopping at Zach Wilson is hubris.
As a quarterback, Wilson’s merely appetizer material. If the NFL draft is still serving Bo Nix or Michael Penix Jr. as a main course, and at a reasonable cost, the Broncos would be crazy not to bite.
A QB room consisting of Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, Ben DiNucci and a seventh-round flier to be named late would be the worst in the division (pending Raiderfoonery ). And arguably the worst in an AFC that’s still loaded with franchise signal-callers.
In isolation, though, you get it. Landing Wilson from the Jets with a seventh-round pick for a sixth-rounder is a solid, low-cap, low-risk move. It just better not be the only one, at least where the quarterback is concerned.
After Russell Wilson took the money and ran, the best thing the Broncos could do at QB1 right now is open this competition to the masses. Bring in as many bodies as you can afford until one of them actually sticks.
On one hand, the kid did beat Russell Wilson, head-to-head, at Empower Field as a visiting QB with the Jets twice in two trips since September 2022.
On the other, what the heck does that say?
If you look at Zach Wilson’s 30 career starts against anyone not named the Broncos, he’s sported a 10-20 record, thrown 23 touchdowns and 22 picks, and completed 17 passes per game at a clip of 56.5%.
Wiser football heads, old coaches and scouts texted me Monday to say they still see a spark in Zach Wilson, that nobody could’ve walked away from the dumpster fire that is the J-E-T-S without some second-degree burns. That maybe Broncos QB Whisperer Sean Payton — Russell Wilson notwithstanding — is the sensei who winds up bringing it out of the guy, the way he brought it out of Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater and Kerry Collins, another top-5 bust in his early days with Carolina.
Although with the latter, it’s worth noting that Collins went 16-9 as a starter over his first two seasons with the Panthers, pre-Payton. He even made a Pro Bowl during his second season in the league before things went south. Wilson, at a similar stage in his career, hasn’t come anywhere close to that.
As depth, though, he works. As insurance, he fits. If anything, it means Payton and GM George Paton don’t have to feel forced to sell whatever farm is left in order to try to swoop into one of the top 5 picks in the draft. It probably also means that they’re not sure if they’ve got the capital to even pull that off.
Unless the tank for 2025 — a reality show of Shedeur Sanders, Deion Sanders and Peyton would be more theater than these mountains could handle — is truly on, Wilson helps a QB room. He doesn’t complete it. Add Penix or Nix to that mix, though? Now you’re cookin’ with gas.
Wilson is the banana bread French toast at Panzano, the mac & cheese at Nola Jane. A great first bite. But if he’s the last, this off-season is going to leave Broncos Country with a familiar, empty feeling in their guts.
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.”
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.
Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath ripped Wilson in a radio interview on the heels of the Jets’ dreadful 15-10 loss against the Patriots. Namath also took shots at Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas.
“I don’t believe in him, I don’t believe he has a future as a good player, and I think they made the wrong choice when they drafted him, I feel that way,” Namath said about Wilson on the Michael Kay Show on Monday.
Namath’s comments came on the same day Saleh told reporters that Wilson is his “unquestioned quarterback.” Saleh also said “That’s a Joe [Douglas] question,” when asked if the Jets would sign another quarterback before Sunday’s matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Namath, who led to the Jets to its only Super Bowl title in 1968, believes another quarterback should suit up for Gang Green while Wilson is sent out of town.
“Send him to Kansas City to back up someone like Mahomes, maybe he’d learn something. I wouldn’t keep him. I’ve seen enough of Zach Wilson,” Namath said.
“I’ve seen enough. He has quick feet, he can throw a little bit, but I don’t believe what’s going on up there,” the Hall of Famer added while pointing towards his head.
The two-time MVP recommended that the Jets’ organization “need to make major changes, from top to bottom.”
“These guys aren’t picking the right players. They aren’t doing a good job of coaching. It’s evident. I mean, you’ve got to look and see. If you have an eye for football at all you see things are haywire. It’s too crazy. They need to fix it and that’s getting rid of a lot of people and bringing new ones in,” he said.
In Sunday’s loss, Wilson completed 18 of 36 passes for 157 yards. He was sacked three times and led an offense that had seven three-and-outs.
The first sack particularly bothered Namath, when Wilson went down to the turf without being touched by a defender.
“You sit down? You sit down on a play? You go right down? What happened?” Namath said. “I thought you’re trying to win and make plays. You quit on a play? What is going on? It’s disgusting.”
In the wake of his season-ending ruptured Achilles, Aaron Rodgers left the Jets with a basket full of prime time, nationally televised games as well as multiple tilts in the attractive 4:25 p.m. “late” window.
To be exact: Three more prime time games that cannot be flexed, four 4:25 p.m. contests (including Sunday’s tango with Dallas), and the new 3 p.m. Nov. 24 Black Friday contest vs. Miami on Prime Video. That matchup will also air on “free” over-the-air TV in the home team markets.
The NFL Schedule Gnomes were drooling over Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer, playing in the nation’s largest media market. That’s why they gave the Jets deluxe TV treatment. Before even playing one down, Rodgers, a media magnet, provided a combination of leadership and spirituality that drastically elevated the perception of the Sad Sack franchise and its even sadder, kvetching fan base.
Pulled from the wreckage of the Rodgers disaster are these eye-popping TV jewels. But if it were possible, would the NFL, and its millions of fans, be better off if commissioner Roger Goodell could suddenly proclaim the Rodgers-less Jets Not Ready for Prime Time?
That would be a large mistake. For, in many respects, the product Robert Wood Johnson IV, Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh will bring to Dallas on Sunday is equally as fascinating as a Rodgers-led Gang Green. No, the Jets won’t have any player with the star power of Rodgers, especially his replacement, the erratic Zach Wilson.
What Gang Green has is a number of irresistible story lines that should appeal to a national audience, especially after their improbable Monday night win. Now, for their next act, the Jets will attempt to pull themselves out of a mess on the biggest of TV stages. In some respects, this is the football version of rubber-necking on the side of the NFL’s television highway.
Besides the enormous life-without-Aaron storyline, The Jets have enough personalities (Quinnen Williams, Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner, Garret Wilson, Breece Hall) who should bring big-time eyeballs to the screens and keep the buzz surrounding the team alive.
Once the Jets landed on Rodgers, the NFL set the foundation for a green-and-white summer by “forcing” the Jets to appear on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” The show gave Rodgers and the Jets a national platform. Fans from coast-to-coast got to know them.
The Jets continued on the national track opening on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” against Buffalo in the Meadowlands. Rodgers was over-and-out after four plays in the Jets first series. But Gang Green won dramatically in overtime with Hard Knocks “star” Xavier Gibson unleashing a 66-yard punt return for the winning score.
Apparently, no one bailed when Rodgers was officially ruled out of the game. Just over 22.6 million viewers tuned in making Bills-Jets making it the most watched ESPN “MNF” tilt.
They watched while Wilson tried to start picking up the pieces of his own career. The quarterback, who had no pressure coming into the season, is back to dealing with the harsh characterizations, on and off the field, that regularly come his way.
Wilson is no Buzz Machine. And things could go south in a hurry, but his story, and the intrigue surrounding a team that instantly lost its leader for the season, makes the Jets a compelling watch.
At least until Thanksgiving.
DOES ROMO STILL LOVE ZACH?
In terms of broadcasters, Zach Wilson found a soft place to land Sunday against the hard charging Cowboys defense.
CBS’ Tony Romo will be working the game with Jim Nantz. In the summer of Wilson’s rookie season, Romo believed Wilson’s upside was over the moon.
“I think Zach Wilson is going to be in the discussion as one of the top three to five quarterbacks [in the NFL] very quickly. Within the next couple of years,” Romo said at the time. “I think you’re going to see him rise. I think he’s unbelievable. His ceiling is so high.”
As he watches Wilson perform Sunday, it will be interesting to hear how much Romo has altered his opinion of the Jets quarterback.
MSG’S BACKUP PLAN
With the MSG Network recently releasing its 2023-24 Knicks schedule, thoughts turned to the legend Walt (Clyde) Frazier, 78, and his broadcast future.
Early in the summer, Frazier said he wants to cut back on road tilts, but is all-in on yakking during home games. NBA TV sources say MSGN brass is considering a few different voices to fill-in for Frazier, including Jeff (Shecky) Van Gundy and Mark Jackson.
Watching both Jax and JVG, in a combo or singularly, reunite with their former ESPN partner Mike Breen, would not only be great TV but tremendous theater as well.
In June, obviously believing great broadcast teams grow on trees, ESPN’s Kangaroo Court, in what it called an economic move, fired both JVG and Jax.
BANK ON CARL
There is no NFL analyst as consistently reliable as Giants radio voice Carl Banks.
The former Giants linebacker, who works with Bob Papa, did not wait until Dallas got too far ahead of the Giants, in the 40-0 blowout, before he started questioning Brian Daboll’s play calling.
Banks wondered why the coach went away from plays that were scripted in the opening series. In nine plays (mostly runs by Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones) the Giants moved the ball to the Cowboys 8-yard line before things started falling apart.
AROUND THE DIAL
Many moons ago, Joe Benigno cornered the market on the downtrodden (Jets/Mets) fan persona. He flaunted it. Not that he gave a damn but his undying allegiance left his credibility in question. Now, Joey B., has competition. Since the coming and going of Aaron Rodgers, ESPN’s Mike Greenberg and WFAN’s Brandon Tierney (Did you see his Animal House-like rant, aka “Bluto’s Big Speech?”) have made this latest Jets “tragedy” more about THEM than the team. The moaning and whining about THEIR Jetsian misfortune suggested someone in need of a Pity Party. Unfortunately, on this occasion, it also left the perception they are more fan boys than serious broadcasters. … While SNY’s Mets postgame show can’t contractually be pre-empted, it needed to be Monday night. As soon as the Jets won in OT, we switched to SNY for the Jets postgame, only to see Gary Apple and Todd Zeile discussing Arizona’s 4-3 win over the Mets. The closest SNY got to the Jets was a crawler saying the postgame was coming up next. Couldn’t wait. Went back to ESPN for its MNF postgame. That was too slow moving. Put on 98.7 and, fortunately, caught the Main Event, Robert Saleh’s press conference. … Is he kidding? Or is Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo really ticked? Doggie said he thought he was going to be a participant in Stephen A. Smith’s Wednesday 28-minute interview with Roger Goodell on “First Take.” And Dog was not happy when production staffers basically threw him a stick and told him to chase it. There were only two seats on the set — one for SAS and one for the commissioner. Russo knows when you dish it out you’ve got to take it. Russo, rightfully so, has been tough on Goodell. The Dog should not expect any niceties in return. … In the middle of the participants fawning over new “The NFL Today” cast member J.J. Watt, Phil Simms delivered a sarcastically funny line. He quoted an NFL type who said Dak Prescott just “can’t throw” more interceptions. Simms: “That’s ground breaking stuff.” Even Bill Cowher laughed.
For facing the media. After suffering another injury that left his Yankees career in doubt on Sept. 8 vs Milwaukee, the hard-luck pitcher did not duck any questions. Severino told boss scribes he “felt like somebody shot me.” Through his tribulations, the right-hander has been up-front and available.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: CBS
How many great games and memories did Tom Brady provide CBS the past 20 years? And yet the network took a pass on televising the halftime ceremony honoring his legendary contributions. It put readily available halftime game highlights over history.
DOUBLE TALK
What Robert Saleh said: “We’ve got a lot of faith in Zach [Wilson].”
What Robert Saleh meant to say: “For now, Zach is our only option.”
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.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Zach Wilson is getting another start for the New York Jets, and this one in prime time.
Coach Robert Saleh announced the decision Tuesday that Wilson will be under center Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars as the Jets (7-7) try to hold on in the AFC playoff hunt.
With Mike White not cleared for contact by doctors as he recovers from broken ribs, Saleh and the Jets will have Wilson make a second straight start in his return from a three-game benching.
“With Zach, he knows to prepare like he’s the No. 1 (quarterback),” Saleh said.
Wilson, who had an up-and-down performance last Sunday, has been taking the snaps with the starters during walkthrough practices this week, while White has been limited.
It sets up the second meeting between the top two picks from last year’s draft with Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence (No. 1 overall) squaring off against Wilson, who went second. The Jets hung on for a 26-21 victory last December.
While Lawrence has blossomed in his second season, Wilson has continued to struggle and gives the Jets some pause as to whether he’s their long-term solution at quarterback.
“No one’s going to give up on someone just because it feels like if it doesn’t show up in Year One or Year Two, it’s like, move on,” Saleh said.
Wilson was benched for three games to work on his mechanics and mental approach with White starting in his place. Wilson had an up-and-down performance in his return last Sunday in the Jets’ 20-17 loss to Detroit.
He was 18 of 35 for 317 yards and two touchdowns overall, spanning a good first two quarters, a dismal third and a solid fourth. Wilson led New York to a go-ahead score late and was driving the Jets to a potential tying field goal in the final seconds.
“Zach is growing,” Saleh said. “He’s growing with this team, he’s growing with all of us. It’s just a matter of reps. And the more he sees it, the faster he’ll play. The faster he plays, the faster he’ll get the ball out. As things happen faster, his natural playing ability will come into play because he’s not thinking.
“But to get to a world where you’re playing without thought, you’ve got to get reps.”
White was twice knocked from the Jets’ loss to the Bills in Buffalo on Dec. 11 by big hits. He finished the game, but left the stadium in an ambulance to be examined at a hospital. After X-rays at the stadium were clear, CT scans revealed the rib fractures.
Saleh said White remains “week to week” in his recovery, but the Jets have not ruled him out for the rest of the season. White can practice, but is waiting to be cleared to play in games.
“Everything for Mike is to give him the opportunity to seek a second opinion and for him and his team to kind of make sure all the boxes are being checked,” Saleh said. “So from our point as coaches, we’re just allowing that process to happen and when everything aligns, we’ll make a decision.”
The Jets (7-7) have lost three straight games and seen their playoff chances dwindle. They likely need to win out, starting with their game on short rest against Jacksonville (6-8). The Jaguars have clawed their way into the AFC postseason hunt by winning two straight and three of four.
NOTES: Saleh ruled out WR Denzel Mims (concussion) and CB Brandin Echols (quadriceps) for the game. … WR Corey Davis (concussion) and DT Quinnen Williams (calf) are “trending in the right direction,” Saleh said. The coach added that Williams’ availability will likely be determined shortly before the game. “It feels a lot better than it did last week,” Saleh said.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were routed by the New York Jets Sunday, 27-10.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Matt LaFleur had been a perfect 10-0 coming off a regular season loss.
That streak is over.
The Packers were 24-2 at Lambeau Field under LaFleur.
They’re now 24-3.
LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers are a mess. And Sunday was further proof.
The Packers dropped their second straight game, falling to the New York Jets, 27-10, at Lambeau Field. Green Bay is now 3-3 and trails first place Minnesota (5-1) by two games in the NFC North.
Here’s the good, bad and ugly from the Jets’ win over the Packers, beginning with the ugly.
THE UGLY
OFFENSE: Six games into the season, Green Bay has scored just 107 points — a paltry 17.8 points per contest. And over the last six quarters, the Packers have just 10 offensive points.
Things were as ugly as ugly gets on Sunday.
Green Bay averaged just 4.0 yards a play. The Packers had only 278 total yards.
Green Bay managed only 60 rushing yards. And Aaron Rodgers was sacked four times and had a remarkably uneven game, averaging just 6.0 yards per attempt and finishing with an 88.1 rating.
“I expect that typical stretch coming up at some point where we get really hot,” Rodgers said last week. “Hopefully it starts this week. But I think that’s right around the corner.”
Not quite.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Green Bay’s special teams, which has been largely abysmal since 2005, had shown signs of progress this season under new coordinator Rich Bisaccia. That changed Sunday.
The Jets Michael Clemens blocked a Pat O’Donnell punt in the third quarter, Will Parks recovered and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown that gave New York a 17-3 lead.
In the second quarter, the Jets Quinnen Williams blocked Mason Crosby’s 47-yard field goal.
New York’s Braxton Berrios also averaged 29.0 yards per kick return and 11.3 on punt returns.
Green Bay’s Eric Wilson did block a Braden Mann punt. Overall, though, Bisaccia’s units were whipped by the Jets’ special teams.
“I’d like to think that if we can find a certain consistent balance into what we’re trying to do, then I think you have a chance to improve and get better every day in the fundamentals and technique we’re asking you to do,” Bisaccia said last week. “I think our job is to put them in position just to do what they really do well, and then individually can be successful which means collectively we all have a chance to be successful.”
The Packers were anything but successful Sunday.
DEFENSE: Green Bay believed it had one of the NFL’s elite defenses when the season began.
That hasn’t been the case — and the Packers’ defense was completely overwhelmed in the second half Sunday.
Green Bay needed its defense to step up in what was a 3-3 game at halftime. Instead, the Jets dominated after intermission, scored 17 points on their final three offensive possessions and pulled away.
First, Braxton Berrios had a 20-yard touchdown run on a reverse. Then, Breece Hall ripped off a 34-yard touchdown run. And lastly, the Jets marched 57 yards and kicked a field goal that stretched their lead to 27-10 and ended things.
The Jets ran the ball for 179 yards and averaged 5.4 yards per carry. And the hot seat under defensive coordinator Joe Barry is now scorching.
“We already know it’s going to come,” Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas said this week. “We just can’t press it. I think everybody knows how good we can be and everybody sees the names, so it’s like, ‘We expect so much of these guys.’ Right now, it’s not happening but it’s still early. It’s still early.”
Perhaps. But Green Bay continues to look for answers it can’t find.
THE BAD
OFFENSIVE LINE: Green Bay’s group was atrocious throughout the day and was consistently whipped by the Jets’ defensive front.
Rodgers was sacked four times and was hit nine more times. Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams dominated inside with two sacks and three quarterback hits.
Struggling right guard Royce Newman was benched in the second quarter and replaced with Jake Hanson. Hanson quickly suffered a biceps injury, though, and Newman re-entered the game.
Right tackle Elgton Jenkins was flagged three times during a rocky performance. And the entire line was overwhelmed throughout.
THE AARON JONES MYSTERY: Jones, Green Bay’s most dynamic offensive playmaker, had just three carries in the first half and only one reception.
He finished with nine carries for 19 yards and three catches for 25 yards.
Jones entered the day averaging a whopping 6.4 yards per game, but now has just 70 carries this season (11.7 per game).
“It’s hard to sit up here and justify that to everybody, to our team,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said last week of Jones’ limited workload.
Jones entered the year as one of only three players in NFL history to post 4,000-plus rushing yards (4,163) and 40-plus rushing TDs (41) with an average of 5.0-plus yards per carry (5.06) in their first five seasons. The other two? Oh, just Hall of Famers Jim Brown (1957-61) and Jim Taylor (1958-62).
Among running backs with at least 750 career carries, Jones ranks fifth all-time in yards per carry at 5.16. This year, Jones is averaging a ridiculous 6.39 yards per attempt.
And from 2019-21, only two running backs have posted 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage and 10-plus scrimmage touchdowns each year: Jones and Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.
But Jones continues to be the most under-utilized player in the league. That didn’t change on Sunday, and it’s one of the biggest mysteries in Green Bay right now.
RANDALL COBB: Green Bay’s veteran wide receiver suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter, then left on a cart. While exiting Lambeau Field, Cobb teared up and put a towel over his head.
What that means for his future remains to be seen.
Cobb entered the day tied for second on the team with 17 catches and tied for second in targets (25).
In Green Bay’s loss to the New York Giants last week, Cobb caught seven passes for 99 yards.
“I feel great,” Cobb said last week. “I’ve been telling you all that for the past couple of weeks. I feel great.”
Unfortunately for Cobb and the Packers, he wasn’t feeling so good on Sunday.
THE GOOD
ROBERT TONYAN: Green Bay’s tight end has been quiet through five games with just 17 catches for 129 yards (7.6 average) and one touchdown. But Tonyan had his best game of 2022 against the Jets.
Tonyan had six catches for 61 yards in the first half and finished with a team-high 10 catches for 90 yards.
Less than a year after suffering a torn ACL, Tonyan is starting to resemble his old self.
THIS AND THAT: Green Bay’s Eric Wilson blocked a punt in the second quarter. … Green Bay rookie fifth round draft pick Kingsley Enagbare notched his first career sack. Enagbare, an outside linebacker, dumped Wilson for a 4-yard loss in the second quarter. … Rashan Gary had a sack and has now posted sacks in five of six games this year.
PITTSBURGH — Quarterback Zach Wilson‘s season debut included a historic touchdown catch, a two-quarter slump that nearly doomed the New York Jets and the biggest fourth-quarter comeback of his young career.
“That was an ugly win, but that was some of the most fun I’ve had playing football,” Wilson said Sunday after a 24-20 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.
It was a wild game.
The Jets led by 10 points in the first quarter and trailed by 10 in the fourth, but Wilson rallied them with 81- and 65-yard touchdown drives on their final two possessions to pull out their second come-from-behind win on the road. Wilson returned to the huddle after a preseason knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery on Aug. 16. With only three days of full practice, he was predictably rusty (18-for-36, 252 yards, two interceptions), but he made several clutch throws in the fourth quarter. Sunday’s game was the first time since 1988 that the Jets led by 10 points, trailed by 10 and won the game, according to Elias Sports Bureau research.
Wilson was nearly flawless in the fourth, completing 10 of 12 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown — a 5-yard slant to wide receiver Corey Davis with 7:31 remaining.
“The young man doesn’t flinch,” coach Robert Saleh said.
Wilson, drafted second overall in 2021, demonstrated toughness and resilience in the final minutes. He completed his last seven passes, including 5-for-5 for 57 yards on the final drive. The Jets took over on Michael Carter II‘s interception with 3:34 to play and marched to Breece Hall‘s 2-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds left.
Wilson said he didn’t think about his surgically repaired knee during the game. He was under heavy duress by a makeshift line. He was sacked only once, but he was hit six times and pressured 14 times, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
“I thought this was probably the most comfortable I’ve ever felt from a pregame standpoint coming into a game,” said Wilson, who went 3-10 as a starter during a difficult rookie year.
Wilson proved he could catch a pass. In the second quarter, he scored on the Jets’ version of the “Philly Special,” a razzle-dazzle play in which he handed it to wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who pitched it to receiver Braxton Berrios, who threw a 2-yard pass to a wide open Wilson.
He became the first quarterback in Jets history to score a touchdown reception and the first to catch a pass since Geno Smith in 2013. Wilson celebrated with a “Griddy” dance in the end zone.
“Pretty cool,” he said of his touchdown, joking, “I’ve got the best hands on the team.”
The Jets seemed in control with a 10-0 lead, but Wilson threw two interceptions (one off the hands of tight end Tyler Conklin) as the Jets squandered opportunities to put the game away. Wilsons said “there was frustration, but it was the right frustration.” The defense made four interceptions, including two by safety Lamarcus Joyner, to keep the Jets in the game. That gave Wilson two big possessions at the end.
“He never shut down. He never turns it off. You can tell he just believes in himself. He might not have played a perfect game, but it was his first game back and everything,” Hall said of Wilson.
Wilson, showing no ill effects from his knee surgery, escaped a handful of sacks with his mobility. He said he was “in a good spot” with his knee, crediting the training staff for getting him ready. He was on the run because his offensive line suffered another key injury, as rookie right tackle Max Mitchell (knee) was carted off in the second quarter — the fourth Jets tackle to get injured since training camp.
The day began with a surprise move, right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker starting at left tackle. By halftime, only two of the five Week 1 starters were in their original positions — center Connor McGovern and left guard Laken Tomlinson. Led by Wilson, the Jets (2-2) overcame plenty of adversity.
“I thought he played a good game for his first game back,” Saleh said.
The Steelers (1-3) found it hard to swallow. Said safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, “It’s very frustrating. It’s frustrating losing to people that you know that you’re better than, more talented than.”
