Jets Country

Russell Wilson’s Injury Doesn't Make Broncos Game an Easy Win For Jets

Just because Russell Wilson is out this week doesn't mean the Jets are going to run away with a win. It'll still take New York's best in Denver on Sunday.

Max Goodman

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The Jets have an opportunity to win their fourth game of the season against a backup quarterback in Week 7.

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson was officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against New York in Denver, held back by a hamstring injury.

With Wilson sitting, Denver will hand the keys to Brett Rypien, a 26-year-old with one career start (a win on Thursday Night Football against the Jets in 2020).

New York has already taken care of business against a slew of second-string signal-callers this year. In Week 2, Gang Green mounted a comeback against Browns’ Jacoby Brissett. Two weeks later, they stunned Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh. Then, in Week 5, with Tua Tagovailoa out and Teddy Bridgewater injured on the first play from scrimmage, New York was dominant against Dolphins’ rookie Skylar Thompson.

Even with Wilson’s struggles to begin this season, leading the Broncos to a 2-4 record thus far, the Jets were preparing for a challenging matchup against the nine-time Pro Bowler (if he was healthy enough to suit up). Plus, despite that team's disfunction, New York's coaching staff still sees a talented unit on the brink of breaking through on offense. They aren't taking this matchup lightly.

"It’s just a matter of time for that group," Saleh told reporters. "When it starts clicking, it’s going to be exactly what everyone expected. If we can just try to hold them off for one more week, that’d be good."

Saleh added that Denver is "centimeters" off from a handful of plays that would allow them to average 30 points per game. That's high praise considering Denver is currently averaging 15.2 points per game in 2022, the worst in football.

"They’ve been in the red zone as much as anyone. They’re just not scoring," Saleh explained. "They’re not getting it across the goal line. It’s not just scoring, but some freak things that are happening where they’re not even getting points out of their drives to the red zone."

Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich followed up with a similar evaluation, saying Denver has one of the best receiver rooms in the NFL. Limiting explosives and keeping the Broncos from figuring it out is at the top of New York's priority list.

"They’ve been that close to hitting on a lot of explosives, so it’s just a matter of us playing really tight on the back end, being assignment perfect, technique perfect because they’re a team in my opinion very close to exploding offensively," Ulbrich said.

There's always a chance that Wilson's injury makes this offense more competent and competitive this week. It can't get too much worse than how they were playing with Wilson manning the offense, right? Rypien has beaten the Jets before—maybe he'll take advantage of his opportunity and bring the best out of this unit's playmakers in front of the home crowd.

You can't forget about Denver's elite defense. The Broncos are third in the NFL, limiting opponents to just 290.3 yards per game. That's a tough task for Zach Wilson and New York's offense.

Still, playing against a backup, Sunday is a must-win game for the Jets. Snapping a three-game winning streak against a club that's reeling and doesn't have their big-name quarterback available would be dangerous for this team's momentum.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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