MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Garrett Wilson leaned in opposition to a locker, clenched his fist, after which unclenched it, again and again. He grabbed his left hand and went finger by finger, squeezing each, veins popping. Wilson’s frustration has been simmering for weeks. Now it’s boiling.
It took Wilson three quarters to obtain his first goal Sunday in opposition to the Miami Dolphins.
“I’m conscious,” Wilson stated, chopping off a query earlier than it was completed.
Throughout the locker room, New York Jets gamers bemoaned the group’s poor effort in a 30-0 loss. Broad receiver Allen Lazard took it even additional.
“I believe they only performed a greater sport,” Lazard stated. “They outschemed us, out-efforted us.”
Effort. Scheme.
Wilson didn’t disagree with the evaluation.
“Yeah,” Wilson stated. “If Allen stated it, it’s most likely true.”
Final week, the Jets snapped a five-game shedding streak by beating up the Houston Texans in a stunning 30-6 win, with all the factors coming in an explosive second half for an offense that had in any other case struggled all yr. Zach Wilson had his greatest sport. There was a sense that efficiency may’ve saved some jobs, secured them for 2024, when Aaron Rodgers will come again to avoid wasting the day.
The perfect plans are laid to waste by blowouts. Jets cornerback D.J. Reed known as Sunday’s effort a “good outdated ass whupping.”
Did Reed really feel the Jets confirmed sufficient battle? Probably not.
“Fairly truthfully, I might say up till the mid third” quarter they did, Reed stated. “You would see the power … and the emotion on guys’ faces was kinda down about the entire sport. I wouldn’t say I used to be too completely happy about that.”
The Jets are 5-9. Sunday’s loss — together with another outcomes across the league — eradicated them from playoff rivalry for the thirteenth yr in a row, the longest playoff drought in any of the 4 main skilled sports activities leagues. If Robert Saleh felt protected after final week, he needs to be nervous now. There may be shedding video games, after which there’s shedding the locker room, and Saleh is getting dangerously near the latter. It’d already be occurring.
The Jets have been outclassed by the Dolphins, and it’s not the primary time Saleh was outcoached this season.
“You place collectively one of the best plan doable — generally it’s good, generally it’s not,” Saleh stated. “However total, simply from teaching to execution, all of it on the offensive aspect simply wasn’t adequate immediately.”
Shedding Rodgers 4 snaps into the season with an Achilles harm was a troublesome circumstance. Most groups wrestle to outlive with out their beginning quarterback, and far of the offensive line has been decimated by accidents, too. However that’s not an excuse for this stage of distress. The Jets began their eleventh new offensive line in 14 video games in opposition to the Dolphins, and it was a catastrophe from the get-go. Zach Wilson was bruised and battered all day, and strip-sacked on the primary possession. He was sacked 4 instances in complete, hit seven instances and retreated to the locker room earlier than halftime.
Wilson initially left the sport as a consequence of “dehydration,” in line with the CBS broadcast. After halftime, Wilson was declared out with a head harm however, in line with ESPN, was not being evaluated for a concussion but. Later within the sport, Wilson was dominated out with a concussion. Late within the fourth quarter, The Athletic noticed Wilson coming into the X-ray room. Saleh stated after the sport that Wilson was in concussion protocol. His standing for subsequent week is unclear.
Zach Wilson heading to the X-Ray room. #Jets pic.twitter.com/Z4wr5H262b
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) December 17, 2023
When Wilson was initially reluctant to return to the beginning lineup a few weeks in the past, one motive was a worry of getting damage behind the offensive line. His fears have been clearly realized. The Jets’ offensive line might need been the obvious challenge the group had Sunday, which Saleh identified repeatedly in his postgame information convention.
“Yeah, whenever you get beat up entrance, yeah, it’s not — doesn’t really feel good,” he stated in response to a query asking if Sunday’s efficiency was “embarrassing.”
However the points run deeper than that. The Jets usually are not the one group within the NFL devastated by accidents to the offensive line, or who’ve had their beginning quarterback go down with a season-ending harm. The Bengals are 3-1 with Jake Browning since he was tapped to fill in for Joe Burrow. The Browns are 2-1 with Joe Flacco, and 9-5 total regardless of shedding each of their beginning tackles and their prime backup sort out. Their heart (Ethan Pocic) missed Sunday’s sport, and one in every of their beginning guards (Joel Bitonio) left early with an harm.
The perfect coaches profit from what they’ve, and put their gamers in place to succeed even when they’re outmanned. The Jets aren’t doing that — and that’s with one of many NFL’s greatest defenses, an elite extensive receiver (Wilson) and explosive working again (Breece Corridor).
This group has largely wasted a stellar season from that protection, although even the protection struggled in opposition to Miami. Broad receiver Jaylen Waddle burned Reed on a 60-yard landing and completed with 142 yards. Working again Raheem Mostert scored two touchdowns and the Dolphins scored 30 factors even with out Tyreek Hill taking part in.
After which there’s Wilson, one of many NFL’s most gifted extensive receivers, losing away. He watched from the sideline as Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel schemed Waddle open, one thing Nathaniel Hackett has did not do for the Jets all season.
“I believe they’ve a whole lot of items of their favor that make it simpler to scheme,” Wilson stated. “Tyreek goes down, they put Waddle in there and he goes for 150 (yards). And that’s, that’s the ball I grew up loving. However that’s not the way it’s going to be. I gotta determine how you can be higher, run higher routes, be higher within the assembly rooms, determine how I might be concerned early and infrequently. And the way we will win video games.”
Wilson is having a tougher time hiding his frustration, particularly Sunday, when he was focused simply 4 instances and cameras caught him on the sideline getting animated along with his irritation.
Garrett Wilson and Aaron Rodgers having a chop sesh on the sidelines pic.twitter.com/hgXZEMbn0f
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 17, 2023
“I imply, it looks like we’re being unintentional, to be sincere,” Wilson stated. “That’s my mindset. It’s easy. I really feel like that doesn’t must be the case. Nevertheless it was. I suppose I gotta repair it. I gotta determine how I can get entangled within the first quarter. Possibly it’s beginning follow quick. I don’t know. I gotta present one thing, I gotta do one thing. They’ve bought a great plan for us. They did a great job getting after us and stuff made it laborious. That’s the way in which it was and I gotta be capable of alter. I don’t know. I gotta determine it out.”
It’s not Wilson’s job to determine it out. That’s on Saleh, and Hackett.
Now there are three video games left on this season, and gamers are beginning to say the quiet half out loud. The reality: The Jets weren’t ready for Sunday’s sport.
In opposition to the Texans final week, the Jets offense was productive. In any other case, this has been one of many worst offenses in franchise historical past by most metrics, and the worst third-down offense in recorded NFL historical past. At halftime, the Jets had gathered solely 4 internet offensive yards — and negative-10 internet passing yards. On the finish of the sport, the Jets had gained 103 complete yards and Zach Wilson and Trevor Siemian mixed to account for 80 passing yards.
Take into consideration this: Saleh has (and can proceed to) refuse to make a change to his offensive play-calling construction, the place Hackett stays untouchable not solely due to his relationship with Rodgers — however as a result of Saleh doesn’t consider Hackett is in charge for the Jets’ points on offense. In the meantime, the Philadelphia Eagles are 10-3 and simply benched defensive coordinator Sean Desai for Matt Patricia.
GO DEEPER
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These 103 yards by the Jets tied for the fourth fewest in franchise historical past, and three of the 5 lowest yardage totals have come beneath Saleh’s watch. As soon as Zach Wilson was strip-sacked on the opening possession, it felt prefer it was going to be a protracted afternoon, after which it was. On the subsequent drive, the Jets tried a pretend punt on fourth-and-4, a direct snap to security Ashtyn Davis, which predictably failed. By the point Wilson exited the sport, the Jets trailed 17-0. It was 24-0 at halftime, and 27-0 after the third quarter.
“They executed greater than us,” cornerback Sauce Gardner stated. “I don’t know what to say. They outexecuted us.”
It’s truthful to marvel if Saleh’s job is on the road subsequent week. If the Jets lose to a 4-10 Washington Commanders group, at dwelling, it’d actually be the tip of the highway. It might be tough for proprietor Woody Johnson to justify working it again with this teaching workers.
“It’s disappointing,” Saleh stated. “Ranging from the primary collection of the yr all the way in which to now, it’s simply been a continuing battle. I do respect the heck out of our guys. We nonetheless bought three video games left to complete robust. As dangerous as we really feel now, we bought to recollect we felt fairly good final week, too. We bought a great Washington group coming in that’s going to be licking their chops, so we bought to go and handle enterprise and get ourselves able to play that one.”
When the Los Angeles Chargers misplaced to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12, coach Brandon Staley stated his group can be getting “blown out of the stadium” if his messaging had stopped coming throughout to the gamers, if he’d misplaced the locker room. A couple of weeks later, the Chargers misplaced 63-21 to the Las Vegas Raiders and Staley was fired the subsequent day.
So, has Saleh misplaced the locker room?
Examine again subsequent week.
(Photograph: Megan Briggs / Getty Photos)
