FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — After shedding quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a season-ending Achilles lumber, confirmed Tuesday by an MRI, Unique York Jets coach Robert Saleh gave Zach Wilson an exact endorsement because the contemporary starter and scoffed at other folks that assume their playoff hopes are ruined.
“I originate no longer know why other folks are attempting to build an obituary under our crew title,” Saleh urged newshounds on a Zoom call.
Rodgers, injured on the Jets’ fourth snap of the contemporary season, became placed on injured reserve and may maybe enjoy surgical operation to restore his Achilles. Saleh declined to point out a timetable, but indicated their hope is that the four-time MVP — the centerpiece to their blockbuster offseason — will preserve with the crew for the interval of his rehab.
The devastating injure sparked intense hypothesis about likely replacements. The Jets are anticipated to add a outmoded, but Saleh emphasised that Wilson is the contemporary QB1 and that no acquisition may maybe be brought in to compete with the used first-spherical pick.
“I attain enjoy to have an effect on it very sure: Zach’s our quarterback,” Saleh acknowledged. “Now we enjoy bought slightly a lot of faith in Zach.
“Here is Zach’s crew and we’re rolling with Zach,” he added.
Wilson, who struggled final season and became demoted twice, will impression his twenty third occupation begin Sunday at the Dallas Cowboys (1-0). Journeyman Tim Boyle would maybe be brought up from the prepare squad to be the significant backup for the game.
The Jets’ broad blueprint became to enjoy Wilson, 24, learn under Rodgers for about a years forward of returning him to the starting job, but the entirety modified handiest 4:04 into Monday evening’s 22-16 time beyond legislation victory over the Buffalo Funds.
Attempting to trail far off from defensive end Leonard Floyd, Rodgers’ left leg became planted in the turf and his Achilles ruptured. A slack-motion replay showed his left calf — the identical calf he strained in OTAs — reverberating as he went down for the sack.
The offensive linemen tried to lend a hand him up, but Rodgers urged them, “I’m no longer getting up,” in keeping with guard Alijah Vera-Tucker.
It became a crushing blow to the Jets, who traded for Rodgers and built their season around him. Thanks to his age (39) and the severity of the injure, his future is now a necessary quiz.
Sooner than Monday evening, the used Green Bay Packers star acknowledged on slightly a lot of times that he desired to play about a extra years. He’s under contract thru 2025, due a total of $75 million in guarantees after taking a voluntary $35 million pay nick in August. He’s making $37 million this season, all of it guaranteed.
Saleh declined to speculate on Rodgers’ future.
“As you guys can bear in mind, he’s down,” Saleh acknowledged. “I am going to let him answer those questions. I did no longer accumulate into the methodology forward for what he’s gazing for or what he’s pondering. I have confidence that is a dialog, tactfully, left for one other day. Nonetheless he’s, as you may maybe furthermore bear in mind, with the entirety that he’s invested on this, he’s clearly a minute upset.”
Rodgers faces lots of months of intensive rehab, however the Jets prefer him around.
“All of us prefer him to be linked and I have confidence he enjoy to be here,” Saleh acknowledged.
The Jets, who began the season with Clear Bowl aspirations, will turn to the quarterback they sent to the bench in the offseason. They billed this as a “reset” season for Wilson, who spent the past few months studying at Rodgers’ facet. The hope became that he’d be in a location to enhance his fundamentals whereas no longer having the flexibility of being the starter. He sparked a firestorm final season when, after a melancholy performance against the Unique England Patriots, he declined to just rep any blame for the loss in his postgame recordsdata convention. Two days later, he became benched.
Wilson acknowledged he’s “loads extra prepared” after having labored with Rodgers.
“The hardest allotment is now inserting it right into a sport, and I’ve bought with a understanding to achieve that,” he acknowledged Monday evening.
After replacing Rodgers for the interval of the significant possession, Wilson (14-for-21, 140 yards) became uneven. He threw into coverage for a pricey interception, but he furthermore helped rally the crew from a 10-level deficit in the fourth quarter with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson.
Wilson obtained five of his first six starts final season, although he passed for under 155 yards in three of those victories.
Saleh acknowledged “the entirety about him is factual so great varied than a year ago. It is happening faster than I have confidence any individual anticipated, clearly, under the situations, but he’s any person that is made a drastic improvement from a year ago.”
Rodgers’ injure sparked dialog around the league on the contemporary turf self-discipline at MetLife Stadium and the total safety of turf surfaces. Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Abolish, chatting with newshounds in Philadelphia, ripped the usual of the self-discipline.
“… MetLife, each person knows about that god damn stadium,” Abolish acknowledged. “They’ve to accumulate precise grass. That is trash. That is wretched for anybody to head down on fable of we play this unpleasant sport, man. Every person thinks we’re superheroes but we’re undoubtedly no longer.”
Saleh would no longer have confidence the self-discipline prompted the injure, saying, “No. If it became a noncontact injure, I have confidence that’d be something to focus on, clearly. Nonetheless that became roughly a forcible [injury]. I have confidence that became trauma prompted. I attain know the avid gamers prefer grass and there may be loads invested in those younger men.”
In the preseason, Rodgers acknowledged he prefers to play on grass, but acknowledged MetLife Stadium is “one of essentially the most efficient surfaces I’ve considered that is man made.”
ESPN’s Tim McManus contributed to this epic.
