If only the Jets’ game plan had this many surprises in it.
The Jets delivered the stunning news Wednesday morning that they will start 36-year-old Joe Flacco at quarterback Sunday against the Dolphins. It was a shocker they picked Flacco, who arrived three weeks ago in a trade from the Eagles, over Mike White with Zach Wilson still not 100 percent healthy.
The move comes at a critical juncture for first-year coach Robert Saleh. It is too early to give a judgment on him as a coach, but the first nine games have not gone well. The team is 2-7 and its defense is historically bad. You may have heard defense is Saleh’s specialty.
Now, he is choosing to play Flacco after praising White as recently as Monday. The decision makes Saleh look indecisive at best and lacking a plan at worst.
“Again, this market fascinates me in the sense that he was anointed the next coming after one game, and now everyone wants to throw him away. He deserves better than that,” Saleh said Monday.
By Wednesday, White was shelved by Saleh.
It is a head-scratching decision after the Jets were pumping White up over the last two weeks as the potential starter even after Wilson returns. The Jets can say the media created the hype around White, but the team did nothing to douse it. On the contrary, Saleh fueled it with some of his public statements.
The Jets’ reasoning for this move goes like this. Wilson is not quite ready yet as he recovers from his right knee injury. Putting him on the field against an attacking Dolphins defense when he is not fully mobile could set him back. They feel that Flacco’s experience will help the offense against a defense that blitzed Lamar Jackson at an insane level last week, including plenty of “zero” blitzes with their safeties.
“One of the reasons we went and got Joe is for the experience part of it,” Saleh said. “Not only for the playing ability, but for the room, but also for situations like this. Miami has a dynamic coverage system as it pertains to defense with zero and all the different coverages they run. Joe’s kind of been there, done that, and just kind of a steadying experience that we thought would put us in the best position to win.”
It makes sense … until you remember that Saleh was the guy who defended the Jets’ decision not to sign a veteran backup this offseason. On Wednesday, Saleh said the Jets would have signed Flacco in the spring but he did not want to return to the Jets. Surely, the Jets could have outbid the Eagles for him, though, if they truly wanted him. Or they could have signed one of the other veteran free agents.
Instead, the Jets rolled with White as their backup. Saleh did not sound like he put much stock in a veteran quarterback in June when asked about it.
“I don’t know if there’s much value aside from being comfortable that if something hits the fan, that you have a veteran who’s played football,” Saleh said then. “It’s more of a comforting feeling, rather than trying to work your [butt] off to develop the quarterbacks that are already in the building.”
Well, something hit the fan and the Jets are now ready to roll out Flacco. Saleh said nothing has changed philosophically and the Jets always valued experience, but their actions told a different story in the offseason.
Saleh’s defenses have not confused anyone this season. His decision Wednesday confused plenty of people.
Wednesdays have become more interesting than Sundays around the Jets. Tune in next week. Will Wilson return? Can Flacco keep the job? Is it the return of Josh Johnson?
Would anything surprise you?