Jets waste no time starting Wilson, Steelers still dragging feet with Pickett

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The New York Jets are excited. Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh. Zach Wilson is excited.

After missing the first three games due to the 23-year-old suffering a torn meniscus and a bone bruise to his right knee in the preseason opener against the Eagles on August 12, Wilson will get the start Sunday.

Speaking with Pittsburgh reporters earlier this week, Saleh said it was important for their first-round pick to experience those situations, even with all of the bad.  Now they believe Wilson is better for it coming out.

“You go through those bumps,” Saleh said.  “Go live through those hard times knowing that those hard times are going to lead to a lot of learning moments that you can’t get unless you are playing football.  We experienced a lot of different things with Zach & really excited to attack the second year of his career.”

The Jets aren’t expected to make much noise this season and the Steelers are favored at home on Sunday.

So, when healthy, the Jets go right back to their second-year guy over the veteran Joe Flaco, who started the first three games.

A lot of Steelers fans wish that Head Coach Mike Tomlin would do something similar and go to his first-round pick, quarterback Kenny Pickett over Mitch Trubisky.

“We experienced a lot of different things with Zach.” That isn’t something that can be said about Pickett. He’s experienced running second-team and watching the game from the sidelines.

Wilson is in his second year and Pickett is a rookie, but Wilson started in 13 games last season, going 3-10. It wasn’t pretty, but the Jets believe that is the best way for him to get better.

Also while he may be a rookie, Pickett is actually a year older than the second-overall pick in the 2021 draft out of BYU.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio told the PM Team earlier in the week that if Trubisky struggles, he can see the Steelers turning to Pickett as some point.

If they don’t make the change on Sunday, Florio doesn’t see the Steelers going from Trubisky to Pickett until after the bye week.

More time wasted when Pickett could be learning on the field instead of watching from the sidelines.

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