You’re probably a bit skeptical, and that’s understandable given the history and all.
But you’re curious. Everyone is.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh is curious.
Offensive coordinator Nate Hackett is curious.
Zach Wilson’s teammates are curious.
And, for as confident as Wilson claims to be, even though he won’t say it publicly, he, too, is curious.
Jets fans, of course, are curious to see if what took place last Sunday was a mirage, an outlier, an aberration … or actual progress.
There’s a palpable anticipation about what Wilson — who on Wednesday was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his career-best performance in Sunday’s 30-6 Jets win over the Texans — has in store for an encore at Miami on Sunday.
Wilson completed 27 of 31 passes for 301 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers, and had a career-best 117.9 rating against Houston.
The Jets will need more of that if they’re going to beat the AFC East-leading Dolphins.
The Jets, for the first time all year, looked like a properly functioning NFL offense, compiling 20 first downs and 347 yards of total offense and held the ball for 37 minutes and 5 seconds.
“It shows us what we can do as an offense,’’ Wilson said Wednesday. “Now that we set the bar there, we got to be able to show we can do it again. I think that’s always the thing: ‘Hey, you did it once, now you got to show us you can do it again.’
“It just felt like we were finally playing football. In my three years, I hadn’t felt like that, unfortunately, enough. How can we get to that point where it feels like we’re just playing ball, and we’re completing passes, we’re running the ball, we’re hitting keepers, and things are just going in the right direction?
“That’s what you see on film [when] things were going the right way for us, and we need to find a way to keep doing that.’’
Coach Robert Saleh was asked Wednesday what his advice is for Wilson to deliver against Miami what he delivered against Houston.
“It’s just wash-and-repeat, continue to have confidence in your ability, have confidence in your teammates, confidence in your coaches and confidence that he has the ability to take a game over when he’s clicking,’’ Saleh said. “Have that confidence and swag and play with that let-it-rip mentality.’’
Wilson won’t say it, but he’s playing right now for his NFL future, which is not likely be in a Jets uniform in 2024 for a fourth year. While his performance against Houston was enough to give them reason to pause, even if for a brief moment, more of that in these final four games might make the Jets’ decision-makers change their minds.
And, if he’s unable to reverse the disappointing narrative of the past three seasons with the uneven performances and multiple benchings, maybe Wilson draws the interest of another team.
By accounts of his teammates last week in practices, after Wilson was reinserted into the starting lineup for the rest of this season, he was looser than he’s been since he became a Jet. He knows he has nothing to lose.
What’s the worst that can happen? He gets benched again?
He’s been there and done that and he played fearlessly against Houston.
The question now is whether he can sustain it Sunday against a better Miami team and beyond.
Saleh said the way Wilson, who’s always had confidence in himself despite too many poor results, played last Sunday “means a lot’’ to elevating that confidence because he finally showed it on the field in a game, not just in practice.
“No matter how confident you are, there’s nothing that boosts confidence more than affirmation,’’ Saleh said. “I would imagine that having the game he had gave him a new level of confidence that I don’t think he even realized he had.
“He knocked over a lot of firsts — he dominated in the rain, he had over 300 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was working off-schedule. He did a lot of things on his own and made a lot of plays and made everyone around him better.’’
What’s next?
“Zach did a hell of a job last week and everyone’s excited,’’ guard Laken Tomlinson told The Post. “Obviously, that was great. But how much better can we get this week? Because the only thing that matters now is the next game.’’
Saleh talked about how players and coaches are “always evaluating one another’’ each week.
“Every day is an interview, every day is part of your résumé,’’ Saleh said. “Consistency is the truest measure of performance. Hopefully, he’s able to do it again.’’
Therein lies the anticipation this week. Everyone’s curious how this turns out.
Everyone.
Read more
