New York Jets coach Robert Saleh seems eager to embrace the team’s quarterback of the future.
That quarterback is … Zach Wilson.
Yes, the same Zach Wilson who got benched twice this season, struggled when he played and appeared to be on his way out. Fox Sports even reported in late December that the Jets will “move on” from the struggling QB at season’s end.
But Saleh told reporters Wednesday the Jets will go “through hell or high water” to make sure Wilson succeeds. He said Wilson, who will be a healthy scratch Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, just needs to get away from football for a while.
“Go read a book, go do something, get away from this game, just reset,” Saleh said (via ESPN). “I think the greatest gift you can give yourself as a human is to figure out what’s important to you. What do you value and how can you stick to those values day in and day out?
“That is the greatest gift you can give yourself, is to discover yourself. I think Zach needs to get away, read a book and figure that out.”
At times it sounded as if Saleh was talking about a different quarterback than Wilson, who completed only 54.5% of his passes, with six touchdowns and seven interceptions, in nine games this year.
“Zach has all the talent in the world, and we have all the confidence in the world in him,” Saleh said. “It’s just, like I said, a reset. We’re going to grind with him. We are. Through hell or high water, we’re going to figure how to get him to where we know he can be.”
The Jets spent the No. 2 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft on Wilson, so they have a vested interest in seeing him succeed. But watching him struggle this season, on and off the field, makes that seem like a tall task.
[ESPN]
