The Jets had some quarterback drama on Sunday, but it did not even involve who was playing in the game.
Mike White was elevated to the backup quarterback role against the Patriots. White had been behind Joe Flacco on the depth chart all season, but the Jets made Flacco inactive for Sunday’s 22-17 loss and White was Wilson’s backup.
“If Zach ever gets hurt, we are giving Mike White the opportunity to go in there,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “We felt like, rather than just bump him all the way up [from third string], just allow him the opportunity to practice and get his mind right preparing as the second quarterback. Although you would like to think that preparing for the third quarterback, you would prepare exactly the same … there is a human element, so just allow him the opportunity to prepare as if he is the next man up.”
It is a curious decision by the Jets since they had Flacco as the No. 2 quarterback all offseason and then had him start while Wilson was out with a knee injury in the first three weeks. Saleh said it has to do with the ages of the quarterbacks. White is 27 and is more of an unknown than the 37-year-old Flacco.
“Mike is a young guy,” Saleh said. “We have to figure out what we have in him if that opportunity presents itself. That’s it.”
The Jets elevated fourth-string QB Chris Streveler from the practice squad for the game but then had him inactive. Saleh was not clear on the reason why they did that.
“With Streveler, we had some things going into the weekend,” Saleh said. “I’m not going to get into detail in terms of having the opportunity to get him up. You have to declare Saturday by 4 p.m. — you can’t wait until game day to get him up. A couple of things happened and we deactivated him.”
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The Jets had six different players sack Patriots QB Mac Jones. Quinnen Williams recorded his sixth sack of the season. Carl Lawson, John Franklin-Myers, Nathan Shepherd, Micheal Clemons and Jacob Martin all had sacks, too. … RB James Robinson made his Jets debut after arriving in a trade from the Jaguars on Tuesday. He had 17 rushing yards on five carries.
Hero
Nick Folk made all six of his kicks, including five field goals with longs of 49 and 52 yards. The former Jet looked right at home kicking as a visitor at MetLife Stadium.
Zero
Zach Wilson’s three-game streak without an interception blew up with a three-interception game, including a terrible back-foot throw that sailed high over the middle and allowed the Patriots to cut into a 10-3 deficit just before halftime.
Unsung hero
Devin McCourty intercepted Wilson twice in the second half, including one where he slid and hugged the sideline and taught the second-year pro a valuable lesson about getting his throwaways out of bounds.
Key stat
127: Rushing yards for the Patriots, who used Rhamondre Stevenson as a tackle-breaking battering ram and far surpassed the Jets’ rushing attack (51 yards) in their first game without the injured Breece Hall.
Quote of the day
“I don’t think the game got too big. If we had the pick-six before halftime, we blow them out.”
— Jets safety Jordan Whitehead on whether the quest for revenge for last year’s 54-13 put too big an emphasis on one game.
