Florham Park, NJ: Mike White isn’t sure when this wild ride will end. And it probably won’t happen anytime soon.
The New York Jets quarterback is making his third straight start against Buffalo on Sunday, while injured Zack Wilson recovers from a sprained knee ligament.
Every time White enters the locker room, his teammates announce his arrival and shout his name the way Jet fans come from the stands.
Some of these guys won’t stop chanting Mike! White! And it’s like, this has to stop at some point, guys,” said White with a smile. That’s good, but you almost have to brush it off and stay off.
What this means for the future may be everyone’s debate. White insists his focus is solely on trying to beat the Bills, even though social media and sports talk radio and TV aren’t getting enough quarterbacks who came out of nowhere to do the league’s talk.
“Yeah, it’s kind of crazy, it’s cool,” White said. You know, you have to soak it up when you can and enjoy it when you can. But it kind of makes you alert.
This alarmed everyone.
Wilson was the No. 2 overall pick in the draft in April and anointed the starter as soon as he arrived. While others wondered why the Jets had no experienced backup to push Wilson off, New York stood with the Whites, who haven’t taken a regular-season snap since being drafted in the fifth round by Dallas in 2018. And that wasn’t supposed to be a big time. hope.
I have 100% confidence in myself, White said. So if you ask me, I should have done the overall selection first, but that is neither here nor there.
Wilson went through the expected ups and downs of a rookie quarterback, throwing four touchdown passes and nine interceptions, while his playmaking skills shone. And then came the injury that took the franchise and its entire fanbase out of breath. Wilson sprained the posterior collateral ligament in his right knee and would be sidelined for a few weeks.
Enter white.
He threw 405 yards and three touchdowns in his first NFL debut, a victory over Cincinnati, a performance that landed his jersey and game ball in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. White had another good start last Thursday, before being ruled out of the game due to numbness in his fingers following an injury to his throwing hand.
He is now well and ready for his next opportunity.
That’s my mindset, White said. “Every time I go on the field, whether it is this team or the other 31 teams, I want to show them what I am capable of and let the rest take care of themselves.
Coach Robert Saleh has said he will take the Jets’ quarterback position on a day-to-day basis, a departure from last week when he said Wilson would be a re-starter when he fully recovered. He’s still at least a week away, with Wilson saying his knee isn’t 100% yet.
But there is a scenario where Wilson is ready but White is playing so well that the Jets have no option but to release him. And that’s okay with Wilson for now.
My time is about to come, Wilson said.
However, this week is White’s time. But there is no tension or weird vibes between the two. Wilson said that White is his closest friend on the team, and the feeling is mutual.
In college, whether you get hurt or you’re the backup, you want the team to do well but a part of your mind, you’re like, oh man, I hope the backup doesn’t do well, right? Wilson said. “But in the NFL, it’s very different. You know, I really hope Mike does well. I hope the team wins and it’s all because of it and the way Mike treats me when he Had backup. He deserves to do well. He’s working his butt off. The whole situation, it must have been a lot smoother than you think.
And so I think it will only be beneficial for me in the long run.
Wilson admitted that while watching the film from its first six debuts, he’s seen things that made him say, geez, what am I doing? He has also seen White handling the offense with efficiency and success, giving him a blueprint for what he needs to do when he returns to center.
Wilson said it’s been really cool for me to sit back and watch, you know, he did something different from me. I was like, oh, wow, that was really cool to see how it worked because he did it, you know? And it’s great things I can learn from.
Both Wilson and White continue to take root in each other, even as everyone else wonders if this will turn into a full-blown quarterback brawl at some point soon.
I work out on a week-to-week basis and this week I’m the quarterback for the team, so my job is to be prepared and go out there to help execute the offense, White said. And next week, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Whatever work the team gives me, I do it to the best of my ability.
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