You need good players to turn around a franchise. You need more good players to keep them there. The Jets got the first part right, but are failing miserably at the second part.
After another loss, this time in overtime to their divisional rival Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets sit at 3-10 in a season that was supposed to have them working on fighting for BYE week. Instead, they were officially eliminated from the playoffs with four games still to play. They already saw their head coach, offensive coordinator and GM sent packing and at this point, everyone is just waiting for the season to be over. Even some of the Jets’ building blocks.
Super star Garrett Wilson was in front of his locker after Sunday’s 32-26 loss and repeated the same song and dance he has in every season he has been in New York. “Losing, period, sucks,” Wilson said. Wilson has been in the league for three years and knows nothing but losing and heartache with the Jets. What’s worse is that Wilson isn’t even shocked anymore by the tragic ways the Jets lose any more.
“How shocking is it? If you had told me that in training camp, I would’ve been shocked. As far as how the season’s went and stuff like that, I ain’t that shocked,” Wilson said. “If you had told me that in training camp after the way we prepped, the way we practiced, the way we handled business when we had the other teams come in, I would’ve been like: Yeah, you’re lying. Hell no. We put it together, but one of my takeaways from this is we gotta win when the season comes. Winning in the offseason is winning in the offseason. Winning in training camp is winning in training camp. Let’s win when it matters.”
Wilson is a building block that 32 teams in the NFL would love to have on their offense. He is a young, electric player who doesn’t miss games (he has yet to miss a game in his career) and cares about winning. But the Jets have been unable to get him a quarterback that can get him the ball when it matters, or at least get someone the ball when he is drawing all of the defense’s coverage.
That was all supposed to change with Aaron Rodgers, but it turns out to be just another chapter in the Jets’ book of failures. On the Jets’ final possession of the game, Rodgers had a chance to hit Wilson with a pass that would have put the game out of reach, but Rodgers simply didn’t throw it to him, instead focusing on his buddy Davante Adams and eventually wound up getting sacked.
And for all the fans out there rooting for a loss so the Jets have a better draft pick, you aren’t wrong, but if you think the players care one bit about which draft pick their team gets, you are naive. Players want to be healthy, win, and get paid. They don’t care if the Jets get the fourth or eighth pick in the draft.
The Jets are wasting a once-in-a-lifetime talent at wide receiver in Wilson and frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually abandons ship for a more stable situation. I wouldn’t blame him if he did. There is trying to help rebuild a franchise and then there is standing by while a micro-managing owner like Woody Johnson continues to run the thing into the ground and bask in the circus he creates.
How many years of Wilson’s prime is he supposed to wait for Woody Johnson to figure out he knows nothing about football and let someone who does make decisions? Whatever that number is, we must be getting close to it.
And Jets fans, don’t take it personally if Wilson decides he wants out. It isn’t the fans he is upset with. In fact, he likely has more sympathy for them than you think. But there is only so many games NFL players get to play that matter, and the Jets are wasting each and every one of Wilson’s.
