The dream of two young quarterbacks battling to be the future of the Jets has been interrupted to bring you a surprising plot twist: Joe Flacco.
Head coach Robert Saleh named Flacco the starting quarterback Wednesday for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins because Zach Wilson’s sprained PCL still is not healed, Mike White’s four-interception stinker last week showed he is not ready for the challenge provided by a blitz-heavy defense, and the Jets are in “the best position to win” with the experienced hand acquired in a much-criticized trade just three weeks ago.
“You can’t take this game for granted,” said Flacco, who was the MVP of Super Bowl 47. “I’m 14 years in. I want to play now more than ever. When you’re a backup and you get traded, all kinds of things run through your head. You want to play. Not only that, but you want to prove again to yourself that you can play.”
Starting a 36-year-old soon-to-be free agent quarterback seems to fly in the face of the future-centered focus with the Jets, who have a first-year coaching staff presiding over the youngest roster in the NFL and already are a near-lock to miss the playoffs for an 11th straight season. But Flacco’s opportunity, Saleh said, is less about what he has done and more about helping the rest of the team function after three blowout losses in four games.
“You’ve got a very young offense that’s trying to develop, you’ve got a young coordinator [Mike LaFleur] who’s trying to develop, you’ve got a lot of people trying to develop,” Saleh said. “And if the guy holding the ball can’t get it to the people trying to develop in a timely manner, then you could struggle, right?”
The Dolphins rank No. 24 in scoring defense (25.3 points per game) and No. 29 in total defense (383.1 yards per game) but just baffled former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson — Flacco’s Ravens successor — with a rash of zero blitzes (no safeties).
“Not that we don’t have faith in other guys,” Saleh said, “but, with the defense that we’re facing, it just was a decision that we felt with Joe’s calm and his experience, he can get the ball to our playmakers, and they go and make plays.”
Just two days ago, Saleh √after his performance against the Bills. It was just White’s third career start, following a hype-building, record-setting debut in an upset of the Bengals and an injury-shortened follow-up against the Colts. So, what changed that now White is the backup to Flacco and possibly No. 3 when Wilson returns?
“I want to be very, very clear on this one: My comments on Monday were because people wanted him out of New York,” Saleh said. “What Mike has done in three weeks as a starter has proven to this entire organization and, in my opinion, to the entire fan base that he is a capable quarterback who can play in this league. We’re more excited about Mike as a quarterback in our future because of what he’s been able to do.”
Wilson did not suffer a setback and is progressing, according to Saleh, though the Jets initially hoped for a quicker recovery than four missed games when they opted against putting him on injured reserve. White expressed “a lot of disappointment” at losing the job, Saleh said.
Flacco will make his 176th career start and his fifth for the Jets, after going 0-4 last season. He will be the third quarterback to start and fourth to play (Josh Johnson) this season, which is a rare amount of uncertainty around the NFL but strangely not around the Jets — who faced the same circumstances (quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Luke Falk, Trevor Siemian and David Fales) in 2019.
“This is in a lot of ways the youngest team I’ve ever been on,” Flacco said. “Not only that, it’s young guys that haven’t been able to experience a ton of success, and you want to get that ball rolling in the right direction as soon as possible.”
Flacco signed with the Eagles in the offseason hoping for a better opportunity to start but was buried as No. 3 on the depth chart when Jets general manager Joe Douglas pulled the trigger on a trade that didn’t make much sense with Flacco inactive for two games. Flacco revealed the reason: He is unvaccinated and had to wait five days before joining the team under COVID-19 protocol, so he wasn’t able to practice.
If Flacco plays 50 percent of the snaps in four games, the Eagles receive a fifth-round pick in 2022. If he does not — the likely scenario unless Wilson’s injury is far more serious than suspected — then it’s a sixth-rounder. Saleh rejected the notion the Jets are starting Flacco just to justify the trade.