FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A have a look at what’s occurring round the New York Jets:
1. Welcome to the membership: Zach Wilson’s rookie season wasn’t fairly. No one can relate to that higher than Troy Aikman, who went 0-11 with 9 touchdowns and 18 interceptions after being drafted No. 1 general by the Dallas Cowboys in 1989.
“I struggled as much as any [rookie quarterback] in the history of the game,” Aikman stated this week.
Not everybody experiences the Aikman-Wilson tribulations, which the former Cowboys star acknowledged by saying of Wilson, “Welcome to what has become a smaller club of struggling rookie quarterbacks.” Wilson was 3-10 as the Jets’ starter final season, ending with 9 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
This doesn’t suggest Aikman is down on Wilson’s lengthy-time period prospects. While he sometimes does not research quarterbacks till they attain the NFL, he did do some homework on Wilson round the time of the 2021 draft and got here away impressed.
“I like Zach Wilson a lot,” Aikman stated. “From what I saw of him, I liked him a lot. I expected maybe not to see him struggle as much as he did last year, but I think he’s got a chance to be a really good player.
“We do not give these guys a lot of a grace interval anymore. I do not know that that is essentially a superb factor or a foul factor. I feel expectations have modified a lot due to a few of the success we have seen from a few of these rookie quarterbacks, not solely in the previous couple of years. It goes again to a man like Ben Roethlisberger and what he was ready to do.”
Roethlisberger was a rookie for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004 and went 13-0 as a starter in the regular season.
Wilson’s preseason consisted of nine plays, two of which ended with bad mistakes — an ugly interception and an ill-advised scramble that resulted in a torn meniscus and bone bruise in his right knee. Coach Robert Saleh insisted that game isn’t reflective of the progress his quarterback has demonstrated on the practice field.
Rest assured, Wilson’s end-of-season evaluation will be based on game performance, not his practice exploits. This is a prove-it year for Wilson, who figures to be rusty when he gets back into the lineup. When will that be? Saleh hasn’t ruled him out for Week 1, saying the return-to-play protocol is structured for him to play in a game after only one week of full practice. He’s 19 days removed from arthroscopic surgery.
Once again, Aikman can relate. The new color analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football dealt with knee surgery during his Hall of Fame career.
“You’re ready to handle it just a little bit higher than different positions, nevertheless it’s nonetheless getting comfy with folks round your leg,” he said. “I count on he’ll come off of that and, as soon as he slowly will get his belief again, he’ll be positive.”
2. Less green: The major takeaway from the 53-man roster is the Jets are an older team than a year ago.
The average age is 26.1, compared with 25.1 at the start of 2021. (“Ridiculously younger” was how Saleh described last year’s team.) They have nine rookies, down from 12. They have 16 players with less than two years’ experience, down from 21.
Part of this could be attributed to natural evolution in roster building. General manager Joe Douglas called it “a fairly cool group of youth and expertise.” With a more mature team, there should be fewer swings of wild inconsistency, which plagued last season’s squad.
3. A survivor: The longest-tenured player on the Jets is long-snapper Thomas Hennessy, who arrived in 2017. He’s only 28 years old. Think about that for a second.
4. No more Skittles: Wide receiver Corey Davis didn’t generate much publicity, but he quietly put together a strong training camp after reporting at 205 pounds — 10 pounds less than last year and his lightest weight since his rookie season with the Tennessee Titans (2017). He felt quicker and didn’t miss a practice, fueling his optimism for a rebound year after an injury-plagued 2021.
The key to his weight loss? A strict diet that included the elimination of candy. Davis has (or had) a soft spot for Skittles and fruit snacks. A lot of us can relate to that.
“I shed a variety of weight, weight that clearly wanted to be gone,” he said.
Davis tried to play through a core-muscle injury last season, but there was so much pain that he couldn’t lift his leg. Eventually, he had surgery and wound up missing eight games.
5. Adams apple (of their eye): Saleh has carried out 27 news conferences since the begin of coaching camp in late July, and the title of rookie security Tony Adams did not come up till this week. Reporters did not ask about him throughout camp and Saleh, not wanting to tip off different groups, wasn’t about to volunteer an opinion.
The sleeper of all sleepers, Adams made the roster as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois. Now, in fact, they’re gushing about him. Quick story from Saleh: During a pre-draft Zoom interview with the Jets, Adams was requested what he desires to get out of the NFL. His reply:
“I want to take someone’s job.”
And he did.
6. Mismatch? One concern about the roster composition is the lack of dimension at security/nickel, with Jordan Whitehead (5-foot-10), Lamarcus Joyner (5-8) and Michael Carter II (5-10). It’s one in all the causes the Jets determined to minimize nickelback Javelin Guidry (5-9). This could possibly be an issue in opposition to groups that rely on large tight ends in the passing sport. It begins in Week 1 with the Baltimore Ravens. See: Mark Andrews (6-foot-5).
7. Tough goodbyes: Seven of the 21 gamers waived by the Jets on the ultimate roster minimize-down day had been claimed by different groups — a league excessive (by lots). The Buffalo Bills had the second most with 4 gamers, which should not shock anybody as a result of they’ve a playoff roster.
This illustrates how the backside of the Jets’ roster, as soon as a breeding floor for gamers with marginal NFL expertise, has improved to the level the place their castoffs are being scooped up by different groups. Tight finish Trevon Wesco was the hottest participant on the waiver wire, as 4 groups submitted claims. He wound up with the Chicago Bears.
The Jets opted for developmental tight finish Lawrence Cager, a former huge receiver, over the sturdy-blocking Wesco — a shock transfer. Evidently, different groups additionally had been stunned when he grew to become accessible.
8. Long street again: Tackle Mekhi Becton underwent knee surgical procedure lately in Los Angeles, carried out by Neal ElAttrache, the similar physician who did Wilson’s scope. Becton, doing his early rehab in L.A., will finally return to the workforce. He’s out for the season, however medical doctors “feel good about his long-term ability to play football,” Douglas stated. Becton is beneath contract by 2023, however that does not assure him a beginning job or perhaps a roster spot.
9. Did you recognize? Joe Flacco has crushed 30 of the league’s groups as a beginning quarterback, the exception being the Ravens (his first workforce) and the Seattle Seahawks. He will get a shot at the Ravens in Week 1 if Wilson is not prepared. Eight quarterbacks in historical past have defeated 31 or extra groups, solely two of whom are energetic: Tom Brady (32) and Aaron Rodgers (31).
10. Hello, once more: Reporters had been allowed in the locker room final week for the first time since the finish of the 2019 season, pre-pandemic. It’s a brand new expertise for the youthful gamers, who went from closed locker rooms in faculty to Zoom news conferences in the NFL, however they’re dealing with it like seasoned execs (based mostly on a small pattern dimension).
Two new additions to the locker room that we did not see throughout the Adam Gase period: a chessboard and cornhole set.