Jets must see big Zach Wilson picture and start Joe Flacco Week 1

[92ShaunEllis92]

Jets must see big Zach Wilson picture and start Joe Flacco Week 1

By Mark Cannizzaro

Don’t do it. 

Don’t rush him. 

Be smart. 

Play Joe Flacco. 

Give Zach Wilson another week. 

Wilson, the Jets second-year quarterback who suffered a meniscus tear and a bone bruise in his right knee in the preseason opener against the Eagles on Aug. 12 in Philadelphia, understandably wants to return to the field sooner rather than later. 

Wilson, who missed four games in his rookie season with a knee injury, burns to start Sunday’s season opener against the Ravens at MetLife Stadium and put his injury history in the rearview mirror. 

On Monday, Jets head coach Robert Saleh revealed that Wilson worked out early in the day and said “it’s possible’’ he’ll start Sunday — pending how his knee recovers Tuesday. Saleh said he’ll announce who’ll start against the Ravens on Wednesday before the team’s first practice of the week. 

For the sake of Wilson, Saleh should announce Flacco will start against his former team, leaving Wilson with one more week to strengthen his left knee and take in more practices before returning. 

Joe Flacco throws at Jets practice. Noah K. Murray-NY Post

Saleh needs to protect Wilson from himself and his own eagerness. 

The Jets should put more stock into the bigger picture than simply this Sunday. 

One more week and then unleash the kid to let it rip. 

The last thing the Jets need is to rush Wilson back onto the field before he’s fully ready physically and after he’s missed three critical weeks of practice (13 practices in all) and the final two preseason games. 

Start Flacco this week and let Wilson begin his 2022 season the following week against the Browns in Cleveland. 

Flacco is fully capable of running the offense and, with the Jets a 7-point underdog at home, Flacco going up against the team for whom he played from 2008-18 for the first time in his career might add a little bit of juice to the Jets. 

Listening to Saleh speak on Monday left you with the impression that he wants Wilson in there as soon as possible and that he doesn’t plan on a tiptoe back to action. 

“Eventually he’s got to get back in there whether it’s this week, next week, the week after, it doesn’t matter,” Saleh said. “You just have to rip the Band-Aid off when he’s ready to play. When he’s healthy and he feels good, he’s going to play football.” 

The Jets must see the big picture with Zach Wilson. AP

Wilson, who had arthroscopic surgery on the knee on Aug. 16 and hasn’t suited up for a practice since, was expected to miss 2-4 weeks at the time of the injury. Tuesday marks three weeks. 

The second-overall pick in last year’s draft played only nine snaps in his one preseason game, throwing a poor interception and injuring his knee on a scramble trying to gain extra yards instead of safely running out of bounds. 

[SuicidalSince98]

If QB1 is healthy he should play 

2-4 week injury and it’s been 4 weeks 

“Let the knee fully heal” is an irrational take, Wilson will only play if it’s healed. The idea that he needs an extra week is completely arbitrary 

he’s participated in the bulk of offseason program and has been in every meeting 

this babying of Wilson is beyond absurd 

[92ShaunEllis92]

35 minutes ago, SuicidalSince98 said:

“Let the knee fully heal” is an irrational take,

Why is that irrational? He’s been injured before and hd to miss 4 games due to a knee injury. There were legitimate durability concerns whether his body could hold up to the rigors of the position. 
 

35 minutes ago, SuicidalSince98 said:

Wilson will only play if it’s healed. The idea that he needs an extra week is completely arbitrary . . . this babying of Wilson is beyond absurd 

Are you not familiar with the atrocious history of the Jets franchise and rushing back players too soon? It’s because they’ve done it so often in mismanaging player health that I DONT trust that “Wilson will only play if it’s healed”

HA! Not with this ownership who wants asses in seats and that’s to see ZWilson play, not Flacco. Woodys love for The bottom line & making $ trumps all other NY Jets decisions, including whether to trot out the shiny new QB at less than 100% so he can sell more jets jerseys and merchandise to the parents of pleading 10 year olds 

[JohnnyLV]

It is a binary decision. Medical staff says yes or no. Zach starts or doesn't. Our sports writers are now medical experts

[JoJoTownsell1]

41 minutes ago, johnnysd said:

It is a binary decision. Medical staff says yes or no. Zach starts or doesn't. Our sports writers are now medical experts

If week 1 was next week, he'd be spewing the same arbitrary nonsense. 

[Fantasy Island]

Moot point, lets just see what he has,  Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.  Was the Philly game an aberration or the norm?  Do it.

[GreenNewDeal]

If Zach is fully healed as of this moment and can practice for Baltimore, then playing him won't be "rushing" him back.

[GreenFish]

This idea that you have to wait 7 more days after everything checks out is arbitrary. Why not 2 weeks?

[Jetlife33]

 

[T0mShane]

7 hours ago, 92ShaunEllis92 said:

Saleh needs to protect Wilson from himself and his own eagerness. 

The Jets should put more stock into the bigger picture than simply this Sunday. 

Saleh looking at the “bigger picture” by putting a gimpy Zach Wilson out there against a vicious Ravens defense behind a new offensive line:

[Biggs]

The Big picture is our owner is a crook and sucks at being an owner.   Zach starting or not week 1 isn't the big picture.  If Zach is healthy the fans and the team deserve to have their "best" qb who gives the team the best chance to win start.  According to the Jets HC that's Zach Wilson.   If Zach needs to be protected and his fit to play he shouldn't be an NFL starting QB.  

[Biggs]

6 hours ago, johnnysd said:

It is a binary decision. Medical staff says yes or no. Zach starts or doesn't. Our sports writers are now medical experts

The medical staff is only 1 opinion.  The player has a say in it and so does the HC.  If the medical staff clears him and Zach feels his good to go his good to go.   If Saleh decideds to take his foot off the gas and pump the brakes he can do that.  He's the HC.  

The medical experts are one of 3 making the decision.  

[Warfish]

So to be clear, all of you in disagreement with the article, the limited amount of practice Zach will get prior to week 1 will NOT be an excuse if he plays poorly then?

Personally, I probably don’t start him, even if he was 100% healthy today. Because I’d want him to get more practice in given how little he’s had this camp/preseason. Him playing, but playing poorly, serves no one IMO.

[Barton]

Idiotic to start him week 1. 

Same thing they did last year too. So I wouldnt be surprirsed. 

[T0mShane]

6 hours ago, johnnysd said:

It is a binary decision. Medical staff says yes or no. Zach starts or doesn't. Our sports writers are now medical experts

Sportswriters are also looking at it through a narrative lens: if Zach goes out there and gets his leg rolled up on by a blitzer, the story will be that he wasn’t physically ready to protect himself and the Jets rushed him back. 

[Biggs]

3 minutes ago, Warfish said:

So to be clear, all of you in disagreement with the article, the limited amount of practice Zach will get prior to week 1 will NOT be an excuse if he plays poorly then?

Personally, I probably don’t start him, even if he was 100% healthy today. Because I’d want him to get more practice in given how little he’s had this camp/preseason. Him playing, but playing poorly, serves no one IMO.

So your saying if he sucks it's because he didn't have enough practice?  That's a great reason to start him.  A built in mulligan.  

[JetsFanatic]

If he’s cleared he should play. He didn’t tear his meniscus, he had it trimmed. I had that procedure, it’s extremely minor. Typical NY media. They aren’t going to clear him physically if he isn’t ready.

[Warfish]

5 minutes ago, Biggs said:

So your saying if he sucks it's because he didn't have enough practice?  That's a great reason to start him.  A built in mulligan.  

I couldn't disagree more. The last thing this kid needs is to suck right off the bat. If we are to salvage him, we should treat him right. Putting him in when he’s not prepared, practice and reps wise, would be asking him to fail. Again, not good for him or the team this year.

[68JET11]

We all want to see him out there, because we all want to know if he has taken a step forward this year. Putting him out there week 1 would be the wrong move. Guys, it's 1 week for God sake, there is nothing wrong with sitting him this week, and letting him have a full week of practice. It's not the end of the world.

[bostonmajet]

It is time for the team to put their big-boy pants on. We need to know if Zack is going to be the guy. Even the best QBs have their bad games. If he is healthy and not lost (and he shouldn't be), he has to play. Flacco is NOT the future of this team, nor do I think he is substantially better than ZW now (because of his experience not ability); dose anyone think Flacco can take us to the playoffs?

We are not the Pats. We aren't going to win with our OL, running game, defense, and coaching alone. We don't have the mystique and the help of the zebras.

We want the win; we need at least one win in September; unless the Ravens are going to 'break' Zack you have to play him if he is healthy. The future of the team is now. And we need to have ZW take the next step forward. That means experience (even bad ones).

[tfine]

It is a binary decision. Medical staff says yes or no. Zach starts or doesn't. Our sports writers are now medical experts

This. These sports writers have gotten to be too self righteous. I noticed that every time they are wrong…it’s always “surprising” or “a head scratcher”. LOL


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[bostonmajet]

1 minute ago, tfine said:

 

This. These sports writers have gotten to be too self righteous. I noticed that every time they are wrong…it’s always “surprising” or “a head scratcher”. LOL


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

 

It also seems they are reading this site. We have debated the Zack starting over 3 threads now. All they have to do is read a few posts, take a side, rewrite, and publish. They should have to buy a professional access here

[Trotter]

F it. Recall Strev from the practice squad and start him.

seriously, if Zach is cleared than he starts.

if there is concern about being ready other than physical, then sitting one game does not fix that and you have a different conversation.

[Augustiniak]

51 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

Sportswriters are also looking at it through a narrative lens: if Zach goes out there and gets his leg rolled up on by a blitzer, the story will be that he wasn’t physically ready to protect himself and the Jets rushed him back. 

Writers find anything to write about that’s debatable.  What else is there to write about the jets right now?  

Of course, if wilson plays and sucks, that’s what the writers would love.  It gives them the opportunity to say 1) he shouldn’t have played, 2) he wasn’t physically ready, 3) he missed too much of camp, 4) the coaches are stupid, and 5) the jets need another qb.  

 

[Augustiniak]

18 minutes ago, Trotter said:

F it. Recall Strev from the practice squad and start him.

seriously, if Zach is cleared than he starts.

if there is concern about being ready other than physical, then sitting one game does not fix that and you have a different conversation.

If they have been honest about the extent of the injury and the recovery timetable, he should be ready physically.  But with wilson the question is always, is he ready mentally?  Will he know to take the 5 yard gain rather than force it over the middle, will he take reckless unnecessary risks scrambling when he should simply throw it away?  Will he play out of control and throw balls at 90 mph without looking at whether there’s someone undercutting the route?  That’s the real issue, not his knee.  Because he’ll be out of the league b/c of stupidity well before he’ll be forced to retire b/c of injury.

[FidelioJet]

I'm not sure Cimini is making any sense here.

If Zach is healthy he should play.  Cimini is making this claim without talking to a doctor.  This is a 2-4 week injury.  It's 4 weeks on Fridasy.

He doesn't need to wait 5 weeks just because Cimini thinks he should.  

How does Cimini know Zach wasn't healed by week 3 and continued to rest an extra week already...Or ready after week 2 and has been resting an extra two weeks?

Zach Wilson is paid to play football - if he's 100% healthy he should play football.

[static14]

Exactly. If he's healthy he should play. If Cannizzaro's worry is one bad game could ruin his growth then by that logic he should never play.

[More Cowbell]

8 hours ago, SuicidalSince98 said:

If QB1 is healthy he should play 

2-4 week injury and it’s been 4 weeks 

“Let the knee fully heal” is an irrational take, Wilson will only play if it’s healed. The idea that he needs an extra week is completely arbitrary 

he’s participated in the bulk of offseason program and has been in every meeting 

this babying of Wilson is beyond absurd 

I don't  agree. The kid has shown to be injury prone with that knee. This game and even this season means nothing in terms of wins and losses. This isn't  a playoff team yet. Give Wilson and extra week and keep him on the field the rest of the season. 16 games is more than enough to make the decision  if Wilson is the franchise QB of the future. 

[tfine]

I'm not sure Cimini is making any sense here.
If Zach is healthy he should play.  Cimini is making this claim without talking to a doctor.  This is a 2-4 week injury.  It's 4 weeks on Fridasy.
He doesn't need to wait 5 weeks just because Cimini thinks he should.  
How does Cimini know Zach wasn't healed by week 3 and continued to rest an extra week already...Or ready after week 2 and has been resting an extra two weeks?
Zach Wilson is paid to play football - if he's 100% healthy he should play football.

Cimini is setting himself up for his next “I told you so” article. If Zach plays and gets hurt, he will have a wealth of content to publish. All he will have to do he regurgitate his talking points he has made in previous articles about the injury.


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[SuicidalSince98]

53 minutes ago, Warfish said:

I couldn't disagree more. The last thing this kid needs is to suck right off the bat. If we are to salvage him, we should treat him right. Putting him in when he’s not prepared, practice and reps wise, would be asking him to fail. Again, not good for him or the team this year.

Wilson will only play if he practices wed/thurs/fri/sat 

Missing 3 weeks after practicing for MONTHS then practicing again 4 days will not take Wilson from good to bad 

Wilson could suck and it still wouldn’t mean he sucks, or maybe it does we won’t know week 1 no matter how he plays

its a long evaluation 

if Wilson is rusty, the only way to remove the rust is to play in real games. The sooner he does that the sooner we can learn about the player 

again, Joe burrow week 2 last year against the same ravens team- did the bengals rush him back? Did he suck last year? 

https://youtu.be/Pn3WjqSHAcI

[SuicidalSince98]

6 minutes ago, More Cowbell said:

I don't  agree. The kid has shown to be injury prone with that knee. This game and even this season means nothing in terms of wins and losses. This isn't  a playoff team yet. Give Wilson and extra week and keep him on the field the rest of the season. 16 games is more than enough to make the decision  if Wilson is the franchise QB of the future. 

You are irrationally assuming that an extra week would make some sort of difference without any information. If he is medically cleared it means more time isn’t needed. Take a second to think about what you are saying, it makes NO sense 

[Jethead]

If he’s cleared medically, he should and will play. And silly season is almost over!

[More Cowbell]

38 minutes ago, bostonmajet said:

It is time for the team to put their big-boy pants on. We need to know if Zack is going to be the guy. Even the best QBs have their bad games. If he is healthy and not lost (and he shouldn't be), he has to play. Flacco is NOT the future of this team, nor do I think he is substantially better than ZW now (because of his experience not ability); dose anyone think Flacco can take us to the playoffs?

We are not the Pats. We aren't going to win with our OL, running game, defense, and coaching alone. We don't have the mystique and the help of the zebras.

We want the win; we need at least one win in September; unless the Ravens are going to 'break' Zack you have to play him if he is healthy. The future of the team is now. And we need to have ZW take the next step forward. That means experience (even bad ones).

16 games is a large enough sample size to judge any player. This BS that we need to see him play against the Ravens is absurd.  

[Biggs]

53 minutes ago, Warfish said:

I couldn't disagree more. The last thing this kid needs is to suck right off the bat. If we are to salvage him, we should treat him right. Putting him in when he’s not prepared, practice and reps wise, would be asking him to fail. Again, not good for him or the team this year.

That's making an assumption that he's not prepared.   Pretty big assumption considering how short practices actually are and that the QB isn't touched in practice.   

Game plan practice isn't the same thing as OTA's where most of the action is getting guys in shape and cutting down the roster.   If he's healthy, knows the playbook all they are doing is installing a game plan and working on it with the starters.  He's either ready or he isn't.  There not throwing him in if he's not ready.   If they would than we have much bigger problems than if Zach is capable of being an elite NFL starter or not. 

I'm not a fan of Saleh to date but I don't think he or Lafleur are dumb asses.   As far as I know the only coach on our staff that doesn't need higher brain function than a Monkey is the DC.  

If Zach is cleared to play by medical, If Zach is comfortable with his physical condition and if the coaches think he's ready he should start.  It's not complicated.  We aren't in the building.  They are. 

You don't start your backup QB if your starting QB is ready to play unless you don't believe your starter is a starter.

[T0mShane]

11 minutes ago, Augustiniak said:

Writers find anything to write about that’s debatable.  What else is there to write about the jets right now?  

Of course, if wilson plays and sucks, that’s what the writers would love.  It gives them the opportunity to say 1) he shouldn’t have played, 2) he wasn’t physically ready, 3) he missed too much of camp, 4) the coaches are stupid, and 5) the jets need another qb.  

 

The likelihood of Zach 1. Playing like ass and 2. Taking a beating are both pretty high in this game, and it’ll set the tone for how the team gets covered in the weeks ahead. It’s a bad matchup for Zach with or without the injury factor, and it makes sense to defer that noise for a week. Best case scenarios here are:

1. Zach goes out and somehow lights up the Ravens (which is extremely unlikely)

2a. Zach starts, throws for 150 yards, and Jets lose by two TDs (likely)

2b. Zach starts, the Ravens pressure him all day, and he’s limping around before halftime.

3. Zach sits and Flacco stinks, setting up a smooth transition next week against Jacoby Brissett on the road. (Most likely) 

 

I think Saleh—ever image conscious—is going to choose option 3. Why invite a forest fire early on if you can avoid it?