Jets Country

Why the Jets Are Sticking With Joe Flacco at Quarterback

Robert Saleh revealed on Wednesday that Joe Flacco will start at quarterback in place of an injured Zach Wilson in Week 2.

Max Goodman

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The Jets are sticking with Joe Flacco under center in Week 2.

Even after home fans at MetLife Stadium chanted for backup quarterback Mike White to replace the veteran during New York's pedestrian performance in a Week 1 loss to the Ravens, head coach Robert Saleh isn't making a change.

In fact, while Saleh seemingly left the door open for a QB change earlier in the week, he clarified on Wednesday that Flacco was going to be the starter while Zach Wilson is injured all along.

"There was no serious need to make a change with Joe. It’s one game," Saleh told reporters. "We played a really good defense. I know the quarterback gets a lot of the brunt. He gets celebrated and all the negativity too, the positives and the negatives. There are a lot of things that we as a team could’ve done to help him out a lot during the game, too. So, we’ll give it another run, and I think Joe will be a lot better."

Flacco completed 37 of his 59 pass attempts for 307 yards against Baltimore, throwing one touchdown pass and one interception. As Saleh alluded to, Flacco's teammates didn't exactly foster his success. There were dropped passes, costly fumbles (a "comedy of errors" as Saleh put it), the offensive line struggled mightily and the defense gave up explosive plays, forcing the Jets to abandon the run in the second half and play catch-up.

"When he had a clean pocket, he was very, very efficient," Saleh explained. "Part of a clean pocket is the offensive line’s responsibility to give it to him and for him, to just deliver the ball where it needs to and just get off of certain reads. It was a bunch of different things. I thought he handled the huddle well, the procedure was good, everything was fine. We just stalled in the sense of when the pocket collapsed, whether or not he could get it to his check down fast enough. Just little things that were just a little bit off, especially in that first half.

"It wasn’t the best performance, but I think it wasn’t as bad as people think it was."

Let's not ignore Flacco's deficiencies, though. The 37-year-old's inability to evade pass rushers and navigate the pocket was an issue. Mix that in with a banged-up offensive line that hasn't had too much time to practice together—against a talented defensive front—and it's no wonder Flacco was under pressure and on his back consistently throughout the game.

Asked if Flacco will be on a short leash against the Browns on Sunday, in case he struggles again, Saleh shot the question down.

"No, Joe's our quarterback," he said. "We're focusing on Cleveland, just trying to get through this one and we'll see what happens."

Wilson won't be back for at least another two games, still recuperation from right knee surgery after a non-contact injury in the preseason. He did work with the other quarterbacks in practice on Wednesday, though, a promising sign that the 22-year-old is beginning to ramp up and get ready for his sophomore season to begin.

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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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