MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Garrett Wilson leaned in opposition to a locker, clenched his fist, after which unclenched it, again and again. He grabbed his left hand and went finger by finger, squeezing each, veins popping. Wilson’s frustration has been simmering for weeks. Now it’s boiling.
It took Wilson three quarters to obtain his first goal Sunday in opposition to the Miami Dolphins.
“I’m conscious,” Wilson mentioned, reducing off a query earlier than it was completed.
Throughout the locker room, New York Jets gamers bemoaned the staff’s poor effort in a 30-0 loss. Broad receiver Allen Lazard took it even additional.
“I feel they only performed a greater recreation,” Lazard mentioned. “They outschemed us, out-efforted us.”
Effort. Scheme.
Wilson didn’t disagree with the evaluation.
“Yeah,” Wilson mentioned. “If Allen mentioned it, it’s in all probability true.”
Final week, the Jets snapped a five-game shedding streak by beating up the Houston Texans in a shocking 30-6 win, with all the factors coming in an explosive second half for an offense that had in any other case struggled all 12 months. Zach Wilson had his finest recreation. There was a sense that efficiency may’ve saved some jobs, secured them for 2024, when Aaron Rodgers will come again to avoid wasting the day.
The most effective plans are laid to waste by blowouts. Jets cornerback D.J. Reed known as Sunday’s effort a “good outdated ass whupping.”
Did Reed really feel the Jets confirmed sufficient struggle? Not likely.
“Fairly actually, I might say up till the mid third” quarter they did, Reed mentioned. “You may see the vitality … and the emotion on guys’ faces was kinda down about the entire recreation. I wouldn’t say I used to be too comfortable about that.”
The Jets are 5-9. Sunday’s loss — together with another outcomes across the league — eradicated them from playoff competition for the thirteenth 12 months in a row, the longest playoff drought in any of the 4 main skilled sports activities leagues. If Robert Saleh felt protected after final week, he ought to be frightened now. There’s shedding video games, after which there’s shedding the locker room, and Saleh is getting dangerously near the latter. It’d already be taking place.
The Jets have been outclassed by the Dolphins, and it’s not the primary time Saleh was outcoached this season.
“You set collectively the most effective plan attainable — generally it’s good, generally it’s not,” Saleh mentioned. “However general, simply from teaching to execution, all of it on the offensive facet simply wasn’t ok right now.”
Shedding Rodgers 4 snaps into the season with an Achilles harm was a tricky circumstance. Most groups wrestle to outlive with out their beginning quarterback, and far of the offensive line has been decimated by accidents, too. However that’s not an excuse for this degree of distress. The Jets began their eleventh new offensive line in 14 video games in opposition to the Dolphins, and it was a catastrophe from the get-go. Zach Wilson was bruised and battered all day, and strip-sacked on the primary possession. He was sacked 4 occasions in whole, hit seven occasions and retreated to the locker room earlier than halftime.
Wilson initially left the sport because of “dehydration,” based on the CBS broadcast. After halftime, Wilson was declared out with a head harm however, based on ESPN, was not being evaluated for a concussion but. Later within the recreation, Wilson was dominated out with a concussion. Late within the fourth quarter, The Athletic noticed Wilson coming into the X-ray room. Saleh mentioned after the sport that Wilson was in concussion protocol. His standing for subsequent week is unclear.
Zach Wilson heading to the X-Ray room. #Jets pic.twitter.com/Z4wr5H262b
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) December 17, 2023
When Wilson was initially reluctant to return to the beginning lineup a few weeks in the past, one motive was a worry of getting damage behind the offensive line. His fears have been clearly realized. The Jets’ offensive line might need been the obvious situation the staff had Sunday, which Saleh identified repeatedly in his postgame information convention.
“Yeah, if you get beat up entrance, yeah, it’s not — doesn’t really feel good,” he mentioned in response to a query asking if Sunday’s efficiency was “embarrassing.”
However the points run deeper than that. The Jets will not be the one staff within the NFL devastated by accidents to the offensive line, or who’ve had their beginning quarterback go down with a season-ending harm. The Bengals are 3-1 with Jake Browning since he was tapped to fill in for Joe Burrow. The Browns are 2-1 with Joe Flacco, and 9-5 general regardless of shedding each of their beginning tackles and their high backup deal with. Their middle (Ethan Pocic) missed Sunday’s recreation, and certainly one of their beginning guards (Joel Bitonio) left early with an harm.
The most effective coaches profit from what they’ve, and put their gamers in place to succeed even when they’re outmanned. The Jets aren’t doing that — and that’s with one of many NFL’s finest defenses, an elite large receiver (Wilson) and explosive operating again (Breece Corridor).
This staff has principally wasted a stellar season from that protection, although even the protection struggled in opposition to Miami. Broad receiver Jaylen Waddle burned Reed on a 60-yard landing and completed with 142 yards. Working again Raheem Mostert scored two touchdowns and the Dolphins scored 30 factors even with out Tyreek Hill enjoying.
After which there’s Wilson, one of many NFL’s most gifted large receivers, losing away. He watched from the sideline as Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel schemed Waddle open, one thing Nathaniel Hackett has didn’t do for the Jets all season.
“I feel they’ve plenty of items of their favor that make it simpler to scheme,” Wilson mentioned. “Tyreek goes down, they put Waddle in there and he goes for 150 (yards). And that’s, that’s the ball I grew up loving. However that’s not the way it’s going to be. I gotta determine be higher, run higher routes, be higher within the assembly rooms, determine how I will be concerned early and infrequently. And the way we will win video games.”
Wilson is having a tougher time hiding his frustration, particularly Sunday, when he was focused simply 4 occasions and cameras caught him on the sideline getting animated along with his irritation.
Garrett Wilson and Aaron Rodgers having a chop sesh on the sidelines pic.twitter.com/hgXZEMbn0f
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 17, 2023
“I imply, it looks as if we’re being unintentional, to be sincere,” Wilson mentioned. “That’s my mindset. It’s easy. I really feel like that doesn’t must be the case. However it was. I suppose I gotta repair it. I gotta determine how I can get entangled within the first quarter. Perhaps it’s beginning apply quick. I don’t know. I gotta present one thing, I gotta do one thing. They’ve obtained a superb plan for us. They did a superb job getting after us and stuff made it exhausting. That’s the way in which it was and I gotta be capable of regulate. I don’t know. I gotta determine it out.”
It’s not Wilson’s job to determine it out. That’s on Saleh, and Hackett.
Now there are three video games left on this season, and gamers are beginning to say the quiet half out loud. The reality: The Jets weren’t ready for Sunday’s recreation.
In opposition to the Texans final week, the Jets offense was productive. In any other case, this has been one of many worst offenses in franchise historical past by most metrics, and the worst third-down offense in recorded NFL historical past. At halftime, the Jets had amassed solely 4 web offensive yards — and negative-10 web passing yards. On the finish of the sport, the Jets had gained 103 whole yards and Zach Wilson and Trevor Siemian mixed to account for 80 passing yards.
Take into consideration this: Saleh has (and can proceed to) refuse to make a change to his offensive play-calling construction, the place Hackett stays untouchable not solely due to his relationship with Rodgers — however as a result of Saleh doesn’t consider Hackett is accountable for the Jets’ points on offense. In the meantime, the Philadelphia Eagles are 10-3 and simply benched defensive coordinator Sean Desai for Matt Patricia.
GO DEEPER
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These 103 yards by the Jets tied for the fourth fewest in franchise historical past, and three of the 5 lowest yardage totals have come below Saleh’s watch. As soon as Zach Wilson was strip-sacked on the opening possession, it felt prefer it was going to be an extended afternoon, after which it was. On the subsequent drive, the Jets tried a pretend punt on fourth-and-4, a direct snap to security Ashtyn Davis, which predictably failed. By the point Wilson exited the sport, the Jets trailed 17-0. It was 24-0 at halftime, and 27-0 after the third quarter.
“They executed greater than us,” cornerback Sauce Gardner mentioned. “I don’t know what to say. They outexecuted us.”
It’s honest to surprise if Saleh’s job is on the road subsequent week. If the Jets lose to a 4-10 Washington Commanders staff, at dwelling, it would actually be the top of the street. It will be tough for proprietor Woody Johnson to justify operating it again with this teaching employees.
“It’s disappointing,” Saleh mentioned. “Ranging from the primary collection of the 12 months all the way in which to now, it’s simply been a continuing battle. I do recognize the heck out of our guys. We nonetheless obtained three video games left to complete robust. As unhealthy as we really feel now, we obtained to recollect we felt fairly good final week, too. We obtained a superb Washington staff coming in that’s going to be licking their chops, so we obtained to go and handle enterprise and get ourselves able to play that one.”
When the Los Angeles Chargers misplaced to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12, coach Brandon Staley mentioned his staff could be getting “blown out of the stadium” if his messaging had stopped coming throughout to the gamers, if he’d misplaced the locker room. A couple of weeks later, the Chargers misplaced 63-21 to the Las Vegas Raiders and Staley was fired the subsequent day.
So, has Saleh misplaced the locker room?
Test again subsequent week.
(Photograph: Megan Briggs / Getty Photos)