Robert Saleh, Jets Absolutely Need To Reconsider Sticking With Zach Wilson

Robert Saleh had to catch himself.

“Right now Zach is the best player…” the New York Jets head coach told reporters before coming to a halt, per the team. “… He gives us the best chance to win.”

That was Saleh’s follow-up response after he definitively said Wilson would remain the starting quarterback of the Jets.

Or as Saleh put it: “Yeah, he’s fine.”

Is it fair to the Jets’ win-now locker room to keep Wilson as the starter? “Yeah.”

Will New York start to give more first-team reps to backup Tim Boyle? “No.”

You almost have to give Saleh credit for saying all the right things despite the fact it would be so easy to let one slip. Following New York’s 15-10 loss to the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Saleh put it on everyone.

The offensive line couldn’t establish the run game, he said. The defense failed to come up with a takeaway. The coaches didn’t put players in a position to succeed. On and on and on.

“It would help if we could help around him, in terms of the way we play,” Saleh said. “But overall it just wasn’t good enough from coaching to players to all of it.”

The reality, though, is Wilson does not and cannot do enough to help his team win. While Wilson did not throw an interception against the Patriots defense — he threw seven interceptions in his first four games against Bill Belichick and company — he also didn’t make many positive plays.

Wilson completed 18 of his 36 attempts for 157 yards — an average of 4.4 yards per completion. He took at least three ill-advised sacks against New England’s front, including what felt like a game-sealing safety by pass-rusher Matthew Judon. New York averaged 2.8 yards per play on offense.

The Jets absolutely need to reconsider their standing on Wilson.

FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer reported Sunday both Matt Ryan and Carson Wentz reached out to Gang Green to offer their services. No-brainer options? Well, no. They wouldn’t be available on the open market if they were no-brainers. But not brining in a veteran like Ryan or the turnover prone Wentz should not be an option either.

Because as much as Saleh and the Jets want to prop up Wilson, there’s enough tape to realize it’s not working out. He’s not progressing on gameday like New York says he is behind the scenes, having both a lower completion percentage and quarterback rating than he did in the previous two seasons.

“I can get into a long dissertation about what we’re seeing,” Saleh said. “Obviously his pocket presence, to us, has been so much more improved. His accuracy is much-improved. His decision-making is much-improved. Like I said, New England got a hell of a defense over there they really do. Obviously it just wasn’t good enough today.”

Has it ever been good enough?

When this happened last season Wilson and the locker room were at odds. Fast-forward to Sunday and Jets running back Breece Hall was involved in heated argument with New York’s running backs coach while Garrett Wilson was clearly frustrated after the loss.

Saleh said he isn’t concerned.

“No, I’m not worried about the locker room,” he said. “We got a great room. They’ll be fine.”

But will they? Probably not if Wilson continues to get starts and run the offense into the ground.

“We’re still early in the season. Even with Aaron (Rodgers) at quarterback we knew there was going to be some hiccups along the way because of new offense, new play-caller, new o-line, new players all over the offensive side of the ball,” Saleh said. “Now we’ve got this curveball that was sent to us (Rodgers injury). They’re acclimating. and they’re going to get better. But it’s still very early into the season.”

That doesn’t mean the season can’t get away in a hurry. And with Wilson remaining behind center and the Kansas City Chiefs traveling to MetLife Stadium for a Week 4 contest on “Sunday Night Football,” it feels like it’s headed in that direction.