New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh said last week when he benched Zach Wilson that the former BYU star will be back on the field at some point this season, but that hardly sounds like a guarantee.
Mike White led the Jets to a 31-10 win in his first start of the year on Sunday. The Chicago Bears are one of the worst teams in the NFL and were without Justin Fields, but White’s performance could not have been much better. The fifth-year quarterback went 22/28 for 315 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He posted a passer rating of 149.3.
According to SNY’s Connor Hughes, White is one of the most popular players in New York’s locker room. Jets players described White to Hughes as one of the most “genuine” and “real” guys on the team. The same almost certainly cannot be said for Wilson, who angered some on the team when he refused to take accountability for his poor play against the New England Patriots. Wilson was benched a few days later.
As Hughes described it, the only people who care if Wilson gets his starting job back are the executives who drafted him and Wilson himself. If White continues to play well and the Jets perform well as a team, White is expected to remain under center.
Some Jets players had a telling reaction to the success one of their teammates enjoyed in White’s first start.
It seems unlikely that White is the Jets’ quarterback of the future. That does not mean Wilson is, either. Even if White does not play as well as he did against Chicago, players could push for him to keep the starting job. With New York chasing a playoff spot, Saleh would be wise to listen to his locker room.
