When the Jets host the Jaguars on Thursday, the highest two draft picks of the 2021 draft might be facing off.
Zach Wilson — and never Mike White — might be under center for the Jets after they tackle former first-overall pick Trevor Lawrence.
Head coach Robert Saleh announced White won’t be cleared for contact in time and might be on the bench for a second straight week.
The Jets, losers of three straight, likely might want to win their final three games for a shot on the postseason, and so they again will turn to a young quarterback whom they benched in Week 12 for a “reset,” feeling Wilson needed more time to develop.
“He’s got a number of the things that you may’t teach,” Saleh said of Wilson at Jets practice in Florham Park on Tuesday. “For him, it’s learning the timing and rhythm aspect of it.”
The Jets will ask Wilson to learn on the fly.
“You’re at all times attempting to win football games first, and also you hope that development is going on all at the identical time,” Saleh said.
White, who suffered multiple consecutive rib fractures in a Week 14 loss in Buffalo, couldn’t be cleared in time for Sunday’s loss to the Lions. Wilson retook the reins and went 18-for-35 for 317 yards, two touchdowns and a costly interception.
Saleh said he didn’t know rather more time White will miss, but he doesn’t consider the rib injury will end his season.