Jets Country

Injuries, Personnel Continue to Spurt Wilson's Growth in Jets' Offense

New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson has been held back this season by injuries to key offensive players and the rest of the Jets roster, preventing his growth.

Max Schneider

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It was the best of first halves. It was the worst of second halves.

That told the story of the New York Jets on another Sunday loss, the team’s third in a row and the 11th in yet another disappointing season. What started out as a surprising jolt of life on the initial few drives fizzled out when New York came out to receive the second half kickoff, ultimately resulting in a 31-24 loss on the road to the Miami Dolphins.

The game itself, and its downward trajectory as time went on, was reminiscent of the Eagles game just a couple of weeks ago.

New York marched down the field on the opening possession, capping off the drive with a two-yard end-around to Braxton Berrios. An interception led to three more points, and the Jets answered an ensuing Miami touchdown with one more of their own to make the score 17-7. The last drive of the three was chock full of trick plays and improvisation, providing some flair in the lead-up to a one-yard sneak into the endzone from Zach Wilson.

Still, that was all for naught. Those were the last points the offense would score all day, as the rhythm sputtered into a series of drops, blown assignments at the line of scrimmage and boring, scoreless football for the rest of the game.

The Jets can punch people in the mouth with trick plays at times. And Mike LaFleur deserves all the credit in the world for making something out of nothing. Because right now, that’s what this offense is. Nothing.

Wilson was good on Sunday for the most part. He made the layup throws he’s been repeatedly chastised for missing. On top of those, he made a couple truly great improvisational plays to extend drives. His escape-artistry on a double pass followed by a throw back across the field to Griffin was the highlight of the game.

At the end of the day, though, when push came to shove, and the bag of tricks was empty, the Jets just didn’t have the talent to compete, even on a relatively good day from Wilson.

His offensive line failed him in the second half, which was to be expected when George Fant was ruled out with a knee injury and Alijah Vera-Tucker missed a portion of the game in the medical tent. That comes on top of the mystery that is the Mekhi Becton injury timeline.

READ: Jets Place Alijah Vera-Tucker and Michael Carter II on COVID List

Conor McDermott and Dan Feeney on the left side of the line can’t get the job done. They just can’t.

It is to be expected when Corey Davis is out for the year and Elijah Moore is on IR. When your best two weapons are Jamison Crowder and Braxton Berrios, neither of whom are capable of stretching the field. When the one time Keelan Cole does get open on the second level and he drops the ball. The cupboard is bare, and because of it, when Wilson plays well, the Jets lose. When he plays badly, they get crushed.

Wilson made the throws he was asked to make when he had the time to make them, but if the Jets are going to grow on offense, that needs to expand to take shots down the field. It needs to be a mix of the Wilson we saw this past week with the one we saw against Tennessee. The Jets won’t get even shades of that second version, though, if there’s nobody on offense to afford him opportunities to show that side of his game. That won’t be fixed overnight.

To many, the rest of the season doesn’t matter as long as there is progression from Wilson.

Progression at a legitimately tangible level will rely on a line that can offer time in the pocket and a receiver that can create separation and stretch the field. At this point, Moore is the only player that can do the latter, and he’s still at least a week away.

That means this coming Sunday will be more of the same, if not a little better because the opponent is the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars.

When the page turns to the offseason, the Jets need at least one lineman, a wide receiver and a tight end in the offseason at the very least. It will probably take more than that, as they don’t have the depth to be competitive on offense without gadget plays when the injuries hit, no matter who is at quarterback.

And the injuries will continue to hit.

New York has had the worst injury luck in the league over the past three seasons. The Jets were the least healthiest team in 2019 and the 29th healthiest team in 2020, according to Fox Sports. The 2021 number figures to hover in the same bracket by season’s end.

Maybe that pays off in the long run if the team can stay healthy next year, mixing the guys coming back from injury with young players that now have snaps under their belt. Brandin Echols making a play to tie the game on a pick-six in the fourth quarter is a good example of that.

But that’s what it’s going to take — an influx of talent and an influx of health. The Jets need a lot more talent on the roster, and they need that talent to stay healthy. Wilson will succeed when that becomes a reality. If he doesn’t, then Joe Douglas has his answer on his franchise quarterback.

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Max Schneider
MAX SCHNEIDER

Max Schneider is a native New Yorker and an alumnus of Vanderbilt University, where he was the Sports Editor of The Vanderbilt Hustler. He has previously worked for The Nashville Predators, The Players’ Tribune and Nashville SC. You can follow him on Twitter (@Max_Schneider15).

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