Robert Saleh sticking with Zach Wilson, says it’s ‘lazy’ to blame QB for Jets’ struggles
The Jets’ offense has looked like a disaster over the past few weeks.
Gang Green’s talented defense has been doing their job all season long, but the offense has failed to take advantage of the opportunities, and that was again the case in an embarrassing 27-6 to the Chargers on Monday Night Football.
The Chargers’ defense came in as one of the worst ranked groups in football, but they forced four fumbles (three recovered) and held the Jets to just a pair of Greg Zuerlein field goals and zero red zone appearances. New York also had some costly drops and took eight penalties on the night, setting them up behind the sticks all too often.
Quarterback Zach Wilson struggled again completing just 33-of-49 passes for 263 yards (5.4 yards per attempt) and being sacked eight times behind a makeshift offensive line. He posted a brutal 17.9 QBR and failed to throw for a touchdown for the fourth time in the last five weeks.
The offensive efficiencies of this Wilson-led group have led to many fans and media calling for a quarterback change moving forward, but head coach Robert Saleh says that's a "lazy" narrative.
“It’s lazy to just put it all on him,” he told the media Tuesday. “Him and the play-caller are the two most visible people, so when things aren’t good it’s easy to blame them. Yes he has a lot of things that he needs to improve on and I know he understands that.
“It would be one thing if it was just him, that would be something that would be worth discussing, but this is a collective issue that we all need to get on the same page with.”
Saleh went on to say the team is not considering elevating veteran quarterback Trevor Siemian from the practice squad at this time, and neither him nor backup Tim Boyle have received reps with the first time offense over the past few weeks, so this will continue to be Wilson’s show moving forward.
While the former first-round pick certainly is to blame for some of the struggles, the head coach says the offense around him needs to be better as a unit so they can overcome this rough patch.
"There's a lot of things the quarterback can't control. The offensive line combinations, the receivers in and out of the lineup. There's a lot of moving parts. I'm not looking for excuses but it's something our guys are working through," he said.
"We just have to keep grinding and push through it. You just want to play efficient and consistent ball, take care of the football, find some explosives here and there, and be efficient in the way we operate on the offensive side of the ball."
