Quarterback Zach Wilson’s second season with the Jets will end with him in an inactive role watching Mike White take on the Dolphins.
That’s obviously not where the Jets hoped that Wilson would be at this point and his lack of development over his first two years in the league has led to questions about what kind of future he has with the organization. It has also led to questions about how the team handled him in the past.
The Jets handed Wilson the starting job in 2021 without any competition and there was criticism of that approach as well as not having an experienced backup on hand to act as a mentor to Wilson. On Thursday, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur conceded that the team may have erred when they opted to go down that path.
“In hindsight, it probably would’ve benefitted [him] just to sit back and learn a little bit and watch a veteran and just kind of grow in this league - kind of in the backseat, watching,” LaFleur said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. “Get better in practice, get better through the scout team and all that. But that wasn’t the course that we went.”
There’s no stuffing the toothpaste back in the tube and no one can know anything for certain other than that the path the Jets took didn’t lead where they wanted to go. They will now have to decide if they think Wilson, LaFleur and others have any place in their offensive plans for the 2023 season and beyond.
