Zach Wilson will remain Jets starter after Robert Saleh says quarterback played ‘good’ vs. Raiders

If the Jets are going to make a postseason push towards the playoffs, something will need to change with their dreadful offense.

At least this week, that change won’t occur at the quarterback position.

A day after their 16-12 loss to the Raiders, Jets coach Robert Saleh told reporters that Zach Wilson will remain the team’s starting quarterback despite another mediocre performance from the third-year player.

“You can argue some type of change and you’re always going to look at the quarterback first, along with the play-caller,” Saleh said. “When speaking about Zach, I get it, it’s a yearning for more, but I felt like he played a good game yesterday.

“He will admit he would want that interception back, but it is hard to make changes just to pacify something, especially when someone is not deserving. If he was deserving of it, I got you, let’s change something. And that’s for every position, that’s a coach, that a player, that’s a defensive player, it doesn’t matter.

“You’re always trying to find ways to make sure everyone is operating at full go. To say that one person is the reason for everyone failing, I don’t think that’s fair, I don’t think that’s right. But that’s one man’s opinion.”

Against the Raiders, Wilson completed 23 of 39 passes for 263 yards with zero touchdowns and one critical interception to Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane with 1:14 left which essentially sealed the game for Las Vegas. The Jets had one last opportunity to win the game with five seconds left, but Wilson’s Hail Mary heave was incomplete.

Since Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury four plays into the Jets season opener against the Bills on Sept. 11, the Jets offense has been completely dreadful. Gang Green ranks 29th in yards (283.1) and 30th in points (16) per game. Wilson has thrown for 1,863 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions in nine games.

Because of his numbers, not only has Wilson come under fire recently, but so has Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. The Jets have gone 11 consecutive quarters without scoring a touchdown. The last time the Jets found the end zone was during the first quarter of their 13-10 overtime victory against the Giants on Oct. 29. If the Jets were to make a change at quarterback, the only other options are backup quarterback Tim Boyle or Trevor Siemian, who has been on the team’s practice squad since late September.

Since then, the Jets have averaged nine points per game and are relying on kicker Greg Zuerlein to score points. Penalties have also continued to be a theme for the Jets offense.

In their last three games, the Jets have committed 17 penalties for 208 yards, many wiping out significant plays offensively. That includes Sunday night when Breece Hall‘s touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty on tight end C.J. Uzomah. The Jets settled for a 30-yard Zuerlein field goal instead.

“We are just looking at things schematically, the teams that we can do differently,” Saleh said. “Trying to continue to find things that our guys are comfortable with, obviously game plan permitted.

“As far as meetings go, meeting structure, practice habits, practice plans and all of that, we are looking at everything. As far as personnel changes, we are looking at some things that I’m going to keep here with me. We are looking across the board to see if we can find a way to generate some offense.”

While the Jets offense has been subpar all season, their defense has kept them in games. Gang Green ranks sixth in yards (307.8) and points allowed (19.1).

The Jets are hoping that Rodgers can return for a run at the playoffs in December. During Sunday Night Football’s broadcast, NBC Sports reported that Rodgers is targeting a “mid-December” return from his Achilles injury. However, that might not happen if the Jets are out of the playoff race.

With eight games left, the Jets are currently 13th in the AFC with a 4-5 record. After losing winnable games against the Chargers and Raiders in back-to-back weeks, the Jets will play the Bills on the road in a rematch from the regular season opener. The Jets stunned the Bills 22-16 after rookie wide receiver Xavier Gipson’s 65-yard walk-off punt return touchdown in overtime.

Then, on a short week, the Jets will host the 6-3 Dolphins on Nov. 24. Gang Green also has December games against the Texans, a rematch against the Dolphins and a game against the Browns, all teams who would currently be in the playoffs if they started today.

Luckily for the Jets, the postseason does not start this week. However, time is beginning to run out unless their offense improves in the upcoming weeks.

“The main thing for us is going to be unity,” Jets tight end Tyler Conklin said. “We gotta come together as a team and say, ‘What the hell do we want this offense to be? What do we need to do to fix this offense? What do we need to do to go on a run here?’

“People are acting like it’s the end of the world. We are 4-5, every team has to go on a run to make the playoffs at some point. Honestly, it’s one game at a time, but we have a lot of big conference games coming up.

“As a unit and as a team, we just really need to come together and make a decision. Are we gonna sit here and throw in the towel and act like it’s the end of the world, or are we going to come together as a team and stop making excuses from game to game and play to play and get it fixed? Knowing the guys we have in this building, I got a good feeling it’s something we do. I gotta a good feeling we can come together and be what we want to be.”