Wilson could be ready by Week 1, but the Jets likely won’t take any chances
Football fortune has finally smiled upon the New York Jets.
Per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, the dire diagnosis around franchise quarterback Zach Wilson has become a simpler two-to-four-week recovery period after the New York passer underwent successful arthroscopic knee surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Many feared the worst after Wilson left last Friday’s preseason opener in Philadelphia following an ill-advised scramble. However, it appears that the Jets will only miss their second-year man for the earliest portions of the season.
The Jets are in no rush to get Wilson back on the field, as the knee in question is the same one on which he sustained a sprained PCL last season. To that end, the team is turning to Joe Flacco in the interim. The long-tenured first-round pick is on pace to be the Jets’ starter when they face off against the team that drafted him, the Baltimore Ravens, on September 11 at MetLife Stadium.
Per Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, Flacco took full advantage of his first reps with the primary unit as the team reconvened on One Jets Drive.
#Jets practice is over.
Joe Flacco today: 14 of 17, 4 TD, sacked twice.
One of the offenses best days of training camp.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) August 16, 2022
Head coach Robert Saleh praised Flacco for his efforts in New York, where he has made five starts in place of Wilson and Sam Darnold. The Jets are 0-5 in those contests, but Flacco has posted respectable numbers, including a 9:3 TD-to-INT ratio. Each of Flacco’s last three starts has resulted in a one-possession loss.
“Joe has proven throughout his time that he’s a winner,” Saleh noted. “I know his record here hasn’t been that great. I think you can argue … He’s been efficient. Even in our Miami game last year, where he started, he’s very efficient, threw for (nearly) 300 (yards). We’ve got all the confidence in the world in him to get the job done.”
Flacco’s fellow reserves Mike White and Chris Streveler also linger on the Jets’ roster. New York will return to preseason action on Monday night at home against the Atlanta Falcons (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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