Now that the aftermath of the Jets’ debacle in Latest England and the fallout from Robert Saleh benching Zach Wilson have cleared, the reconstruction of the young quarterback’s psyche and game can begin.
That task falls largely on the shoulders of offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. It is a huge test for the Jets’ young coach, who has been a mixed bag over two years on the job.
“I’ve got to do a greater job,” LaFleur said. “I’ve got to do a greater job for [Wilson], I’ve got to do a greater job for the offense. I really consider it starts with me and ends with me, so I’ve got to work out a strategy to reset him, get him back to playing fundamentally sound football, and more importantly, just consistent football because he’s done some really good things, but I haven’t done an excellent enough job to get the consistency out of him. So, that starts and ends with me.”
That’s the correct answer in front of the media. Now, he must find the correct answers behind the scenes as he tries to rebuild Wilson, the quarterback the Jets drafted No. 2 overall only a 12 months ago.
For LaFleur, this can be a probability to point out his ability in developing a quarterback. To date, it hasn’t happened. This shouldn’t be only a reset for Wilson. It’s a reset for all the organization and the way they’ve managed Wilson thus far. They handed him the starting job in 2021 as soon as they submitted the cardboard to draft him out of BYU. There was never any challenger for Wilson and there was never even any discussion of whether he was actually ready for the job.
In hindsight, the Jets would must admit that was a mistake. Wilson would have benefitted from having to fight for the job. Heck, the Jets made Sauce Gardner earn the starting cornerback job this summer, not putting him with the starters straight away and Gardner was greater than ready to start out within the NFL.
Until Monday, the Jets have also been defiant when challenged about Wilson. They’ve defended him and never acknowledged the problems that were clear, even in the course of the four-game winning streak in October.
All of that modified Monday and now everyone starts a latest chapter within the Zach Wilson journey.
LaFleur is a brilliant coach who has a knack as a play-caller. The query he must now answer is how he and quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese are with regards to getting probably the most out of a player, who right away is wounded.
“It’s a mental and a physical reset, more so the physical,” LaFleur said. “I got to seek out a strategy to get him to play more fundamentally sound within the lower half, and that’s what we are likely to do over these next few weeks. Again, the more consistent you’re in your lower half, the more consistent play you’re going to have while you get on the market on Sundays. So, we’re going to get right back to that.”
Jets offensive coordinators have had about as much endurance because the drummers in “Spinal Tap.” Take into consideration this: If LaFleur stays as offensive coordinator in 2023 (and he should), he can be the primary offensive coordinator to make it to 3 years on the job since Brian Schottenheimer, who held the job from 2006-11. Tony Sparano, Marty Mornhinweg, Chan Gailey, John Morton, Jeremy Bates, and Dowell Loggains all lasted only one or two years.
LaFleur has a troublesome job ahead of him. He must work on rehabbing Wilson while also getting Mike White on top of things and determining learn how to get this offense going. While the highlight has been on the quarterback all week, the Jets didn’t do anything well offensively within the 10-3 loss to the Patriots by which they gained 103 total yards, and two within the second half. LaFleur needs to seek out a running game without his top runner Breece Hall. He must get a banged-up offensive line to perform higher and he must manage a large receiver room that has two players who’ve requested trades this season and one other who called the offense “sorry” after Sunday’s loss.
Good luck, coach.
The true test for LaFleur begins now. It starts with unlocking the talent Wilson showed at BYU and getting his head straight. If this goes well, LaFleur shall be getting head coaching interviews in 2024. If it doesn’t, the Jets shall be back to Square One at quarterback in 2024 and perhaps offensive coordinator, as well.
Now that the aftermath of the Jets’ debacle in Latest England and the fallout from Robert Saleh benching Zach Wilson have cleared, the reconstruction of the young quarterback’s psyche and game can begin.
That task falls largely on the shoulders of offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. It is a huge test for the Jets’ young coach, who has been a mixed bag over two years on the job.
“I’ve got to do a greater job,” LaFleur said. “I’ve got to do a greater job for [Wilson], I’ve got to do a greater job for the offense. I really consider it starts with me and ends with me, so I’ve got to work out a strategy to reset him, get him back to playing fundamentally sound football, and more importantly, just consistent football because he’s done some really good things, but I haven’t done an excellent enough job to get the consistency out of him. So, that starts and ends with me.”
That’s the correct answer in front of the media. Now, he must find the correct answers behind the scenes as he tries to rebuild Wilson, the quarterback the Jets drafted No. 2 overall only a 12 months ago.
For LaFleur, this can be a probability to point out his ability in developing a quarterback. To date, it hasn’t happened. This shouldn’t be only a reset for Wilson. It’s a reset for all the organization and the way they’ve managed Wilson thus far. They handed him the starting job in 2021 as soon as they submitted the cardboard to draft him out of BYU. There was never any challenger for Wilson and there was never even any discussion of whether he was actually ready for the job.
In hindsight, the Jets would must admit that was a mistake. Wilson would have benefitted from having to fight for the job. Heck, the Jets made Sauce Gardner earn the starting cornerback job this summer, not putting him with the starters straight away and Gardner was greater than ready to start out within the NFL.
Until Monday, the Jets have also been defiant when challenged about Wilson. They’ve defended him and never acknowledged the problems that were clear, even in the course of the four-game winning streak in October.
All of that modified Monday and now everyone starts a latest chapter within the Zach Wilson journey.
LaFleur is a brilliant coach who has a knack as a play-caller. The query he must now answer is how he and quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese are with regards to getting probably the most out of a player, who right away is wounded.
“It’s a mental and a physical reset, more so the physical,” LaFleur said. “I got to seek out a strategy to get him to play more fundamentally sound within the lower half, and that’s what we are likely to do over these next few weeks. Again, the more consistent you’re in your lower half, the more consistent play you’re going to have while you get on the market on Sundays. So, we’re going to get right back to that.”
Jets offensive coordinators have had about as much endurance because the drummers in “Spinal Tap.” Take into consideration this: If LaFleur stays as offensive coordinator in 2023 (and he should), he can be the primary offensive coordinator to make it to 3 years on the job since Brian Schottenheimer, who held the job from 2006-11. Tony Sparano, Marty Mornhinweg, Chan Gailey, John Morton, Jeremy Bates, and Dowell Loggains all lasted only one or two years.
LaFleur has a troublesome job ahead of him. He must work on rehabbing Wilson while also getting Mike White on top of things and determining learn how to get this offense going. While the highlight has been on the quarterback all week, the Jets didn’t do anything well offensively within the 10-3 loss to the Patriots by which they gained 103 total yards, and two within the second half. LaFleur needs to seek out a running game without his top runner Breece Hall. He must get a banged-up offensive line to perform higher and he must manage a large receiver room that has two players who’ve requested trades this season and one other who called the offense “sorry” after Sunday’s loss.
Good luck, coach.
The true test for LaFleur begins now. It starts with unlocking the talent Wilson showed at BYU and getting his head straight. If this goes well, LaFleur shall be getting head coaching interviews in 2024. If it doesn’t, the Jets shall be back to Square One at quarterback in 2024 and perhaps offensive coordinator, as well.
