Is Jets’ Robert Saleh being forced to play Zach Wilson?

New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh insisted whereas talking with reporters Tuesday that he is sticking with struggling quarterback Zach Wilson partially as a result of Wilson is not all that is improper with the crew’s offense this season. 

Saleh addressed the subject considerably in a different way throughout an look on ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Present.” 

Per Sam Neumann of Terrible Saying, Kay straight requested Saleh why the coach will not not less than contemplate giving observe squad choice Trevor Siemian “a strive” as a option to spark the crew’s offense for this Sunday’s primetime recreation on the 4-5 Las Vegas Raiders. 

“You realize, like I stated…You bought me,” Saleh curiously remarked throughout his response. “I’m gonna plead the fifth all on this one by way of, I type of defined it, respectively, clearly.” 

Saleh added he has to “make the choices as finest as doable” concerning who to play with the Jets at 4-4. Whereas ESPN stats present Wilson is ranked thirty first out of 32 eligible signal-callers with a 32.3 adjusted QBR on the season, the Jets are ranked 31st within the NFL with a median of 272.9 offensive yards per recreation. 

Saleh benched Wilson on a number of events final season and finally shut the 24-year-old down for Week 18. Understandably, “The Michael Kay Present” co-host Don La Greca requested Saleh why the coach will not go to both Siemian or fellow backup Tim Boyle this week. 

“Hypothetically, that’s extra hypothetical,” Saleh stated. “I’ll say this, final 12 months’s determination, with respect to final 12 months’s determination, got here due to a loss in confidence that I don’t assume I had ever seen in a quarterback earlier than. Issues that folks didn’t see, though you noticed it on the soccer discipline on gameday, it was even louder off the sphere with reference to practices and conferences and all that. And so, it was extra of an effort to attempt to save him and his confidence as a result of I felt like each time I put him on the market, it was gonna worsen.” 

People resembling La Greca and Andrew Crane of the New York Publish did not purchase what Saleh tried to promote. La Greca straight puzzled if common supervisor Joe Douglas or crew proprietor Woody Johnson is actually forcing Saleh to play Wilson, partially as a result of the Jets drafted the younger quarterback second total in 2021. For what it is value, it is recognized that Wilson shares a strong relationship with injured starter Aaron Rodgers.  

On Wednesday, Saleh advised media members no one’s making him begin Wilson and that everybody concerned is “on the identical web page.”