The Jets’ offensive struggles finally reached the breaking point on Sunday afternoon, as head coach Robert Saleh decided to bench quarterback Zach Wilson late in the third quarter in the loss at the Buffalo Bills.
New York was trailing 29-6 at the time and Wilson had completed just 6-of-15 passes for 81 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He was 0-for-5 on passing attempts to a wide receiver.
"Just tried to see if we can get something going on the offensive side of the ball," the head coach said postgame. "As I told Zach on the sidelines, it’s not just him. It's easy to point the finger at the quarterback, but I don’t think any of it was good enough. It’s everyone right now."
The former No. 2 overall pick shared in Saleh's disappointment.
"It's frustrating, but I get it," Wilson said. "When things aren’t getting done changes have to be made, I understand that. You have to score, you have to be in games. When it’s consecutive weeks of just doing nothing on offense, it can’t happen.
"The offense as a whole is an issue. We need to find a way to get better and take accountability, and that starts with me."
Before his touchdown pass to running back Breece Hall near the end of the first half, New York had been held out of the end zone since the first quarter of their Week 8 overtime win over the Giants.
Tim Boyle entered in Wilson’s place, despite receiving no first team reps this week in practice, and he didn’t fare much better. The veteran backup threw for 33 yards and tossed an interception of his own, but the head coach felt he saw some positives.
“He did a good job,” Saleh said. “Tim came in, he was decisive and got rid of the ball. The fourth ball throw at the end was a bit of a force trying to get the ball out of his hands, but he did some good things.”
Saleh says he’s still undecided on who will man the quarterback position in New York moving forward, whether it be Wilson, Boyle, or Trevor Siemian who signed to the practice squad in late September.
The coaching staff will look at the film on Monday and will have to make a decision soon, as they face a quick turnaround before Friday’s game against another divisional opponent in the Miami Dolphins.
Whether or not that means the end of Wilson's time with the Jets remains to be seen. But either way, the young gunslinger said he's going to stay focused on doing what he can to help and get better each week.
"No matter if my name's called or not, all you can do is keep working and keep trying to improve. I'm going to continue working and give it everything I've got no matter what. What's mopping around and feeling bad for yourself going to do?
"I hope everyone takes the same step this week of what can I do and how can I improve. That game was ugly, it's not the standard, it's not the expectation but all we can do is try to improve and try to get better and that's the first thing I'm going to do."