Jets Go Back To Zach Wilson Vs. Lions; Mike White Not Cleared

Zach Wilson, just a couple of weeks after being benched, now gets a chance to save the day for the Jets.

Wilson will start for New York on Sunday in a massive Week 15 game against the Detroit Lions. The second-year quarterback gets the call after Jets doctors wouldn’t clear Mike White for contact after he suffered a ribs injury last week in a loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Jets benched Wilson following a Week 11 loss to the Patriots in which he completed just nine of 22 passes for 77 yards in a 10-3 loss at New England. Compounding his poor play was the fact that Wilson refused to take much responsibility for the loss in his postgame press conference, a move that clearly turned off his teammates and coaching staff.

White stepped in and won his first start against the Bears with an impressive performance. He also got the nod against the Vikings and Bills, two Super Bowl contenders, in what ended up being two Jets losses. New York was competitive in both, especially the Minnesota game where it went on the road and had a chance to win late but couldn’t score in the red zone.

Now, at 7-6, the Jets are fighting for their playoff lives despite looking pretty good following the Chicago win. Football Outsiders currently gives the Jets a 40.5% chance to make the playoffs, with Sunday’s game against Detroit looming large. The Lions, who also have playoff hopes of their own, start a daunting four-game sprint to the finish for the Jets.

New York opened as 3-point favorites at the Westgate back on Dec. 6, and the game was down to a pick ’em following the Week 14 slate. The Jets were bet up to 1.5-point favorites as recently as Thursday, but news of Wilson’s return led to a quick swing toward the Lions, who were 2-point favorites as of Friday morning.