Robert Saleh cites wanting to use Garrett Wilson more as reason for Elijah Moore’s lack of snaps
The New York Jets have talent at the wide receiver position. It’s just that sometimes they don’t always see that or know how to find a way to get everybody involved.
And when you have one of those talented receivers clearly upset, that creates a bigger problem and the Jets likely did that thanks to the way they utilized Elijah Moore against the Patriots. Or rather, how they didn’t utilize him.
Moore played all of ten snaps against the Patriots and saw just one target which was not caught. Why was this the case? For Jets head coach Robert Saleh, it was because they wanted to get Garrett Wilson involved more with Corey Davis out.
The issue with that is that the Jets had no problem earlier in the season getting Moore involved while both Wilson and Corey Davis were being used. In the Week 2 comeback win against the Browns, Moore caught three passes for 41 yards on five targets. That was one more catch and one more target than Davis, who had the first of the two touchdowns in the last two minutes of that rallying victory. That was the first game where Wilson had over 100 receiving yards.
Against the Bengals in Week 3, Moore had nine targets and caught four passes for 49 yards. Wilson still had 60 yards on six catches with 11 targets. Corey Davis had two catches on five targets for 27 yards.
Bottom line is Moore is way too talented to be held out like this and the comments from Saleh are a bit head-scratching. It’s absolutely possible to let Garrett Wilson see more playing time while also getting Moore involved. Either he’s in the doghouse or he’s not. This comment sounds like it’s beating around the bush and Jets fans will likely be angry at it and have a right to be.
Moore is too talented for the Jets to be letting pettiness get the best of them and that seems to be what happened against the Patriots. It’s almost inexcusable for their second-year talented receiver to be riding the pines while guys like Jeff Smith are getting more reps at receiver.
The trade deadline is Tuesday. Maybe the Jets grant Moore his trade request. That would probably be best for both sides. But if they are going to keep him, then they need to use him. Something has to give here. The Jets’ season could depend on it.
Elijah Moore playe only 10 of 58 snaps, per @NextGenStats. Zero catches, one target.
His reduced role had nothing to do with his trade request, per Saleh, who said they wanted to give Garrett Wilson more time with Corey Davis out. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) October 30, 2022
