Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson’s frustrations boiled over on the sideline during last Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins, but he said on Wednesday that he’s not looking for a move to another team ahead of the November 10 trade deadline.
Wilson told reporters he hasn’t asked to be traded and said he understands that his “name flying around” as a possible trade candidate is just part of business in the NFL. Wilson was one of three 2022 first-round picks for the Jets and the other two — Sauce Gardner and Jermaine Johnson — have been traded away in the last year, which helps illustrate his point.
While Wilson was expressing his desire to stay put, he also made it clear that he puts a high priority on being part of a winning team. The Jets are 24-51 since Wilson joined the team.
“Yeah, I want to be here. I want to win games,” Wilson said, via SNY. “That’s the one thing we’ve been missing on here. I love it here. Do I love it more than I love winning? Nah, to be completely honest. But I’m hopeful. I’ve never been the best, most optimistic guy. But I done found a way and dug deep and I’ve been optimistic for three, four five years now. That’s why these ones each weekend hurt a little more.”
The Jets have three first-round picks in 2027 already and Wilson’s presence would make it likelier that the players added with those selections and over the rest of the offseason can propel them into playoff contention in the near future. It sounds like Wilson’s patience for that to happen hasn’t run out, but it does seem to be running thin in the wake of the franchise’s latest deflating loss.
The Seahawks and 49ers hope to benefit in the near term from the trades they made with the Colts on Tuesday, but another team could wind up as a long-term winner.
When the Colts were in a better position a little less than a year ago, then-General Manager Chris Ballard dealt Indy’s 2026 and 2027 first-round picks as well as wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner. The Colts’ collapse after that deal led to the Jets landing tight end Kenyon Sadiq with the 16th overall pick this year and the other first-round pick looks like it will come much earlier in the 2027 draft.
Moving guard Quenton Nelson to the Seahawks and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the 49ers will hurt the Colts’ chances of winning their next 10 games and their first-round pick would be No. 7 overall if the season ended today. Should the Colts move others like running back Jonathan Taylor ahead of the deadline, the prospects for that pick would look even better.
Given the dim prospects for the Jets’ own pick — No. 10 at the moment — and their ownership of the higher pick between the Cowboys’ and Packers’ first-rounders through the Quinnen Williams trade, that’s a lot of capital for the team to use in their attempt to end what will likely continue to be the league’s longest postseason drought.
Last week, a report emerged that three coaches — Mike Vrabel of the Patriots, Aaron Glenn of the Jets, and Nick Sirianni of the Eagles — were fined $250,000 for interactions with officials. Many questions remain, including whether there was a specific incident, whether it was triggered by an accumulation of events, and whether the fines are being enforced.
The coaches involved haven’t said much about the situation. After Thursday night’s loss to the Bears, Vrabel made passing reference to it when asked about a questionable call: “I’m not in very good favor with the officiating department, so I probably shouldn’t say anything.”
Vrabel was asked specifically about the fine on Monday.
“I don’t have any comment,” Vrabel said. “Those things were supposed to be held in strict confidence — confidentiality, so I’m not gonna comment.”
As another question was being asked on the subject, Vrabel interrupted. “Again, I’m not gonna comment. I can’t. Not supposed to.”
Asked whether he’s under the impression that the fine can be rescinded with “good behavior,” Vrabel said, “I can’t comment. I think it’s best is to talk to league. They seem to have plenty to say already about it.”
The league hasn’t announced the fines. Vrabel’s final comment implies that he believes the league leaked the information.
Absent more information, the fines seem to be more performative than substantive. It’s an apparent effort both to placate the NFL Referees Association after the recent suspension of two officials. And to get all coaches to play nice moving forward.
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson was seen in an animated conversation with quarterback Geno Smith and assistant coaches on the bench during Sunday’s 28-25 loss to the Dolphins, but it’s not an issue for head coach Aaron Glenn.
Wilson said after the game that the conversation was “heated,” but not because of anger toward one another. Wilson said he was “disappointed with how we was playing up to that point and wanted to be more aggressive” when the team had the ball and Glenn said on Monday that he thought everyone involved was coming from the right place.
“I think sometimes that’s overblown as far as what people think is happening,” Glenn said, via a transcript from the team. “Sometimes those conversations can be totally something else. I know for a fact that Geno, Garrett, it was more or less, ‘Let’s get going. Let’s get the offense going,’ more than guys bickering at each other. I think sometimes that gets overblown. I know what type of player Garrett is, and I know what type of player Geno is. I know where their hearts at, too. I know for a fact that was more or less let’s get the offense going and try to score points.”
Wilson had two catches for 26 yards on three targets against Miami and he’s had nine catches in the team’s last three losses, which has sparked discussion about whether the team is doing enough to get their top wideout the ball. Glenn said the Jets are “trying to get the ball to Garrett as much as we can” while also making smart choices in the flow of each game.
“You take a look at that situation and obviously in this game they were trying to make sure they take Garrett out, but to be honest with you, that wasn’t the issue when it comes to our offense,” Glenn said. “I thought we moved the ball, I thought we scored points, but we know for a fact that every game, man, Garrett is our top priority to make sure we get the ball.”
Sunday’s game featured a season-high in yards and points for the Jets, but neither were enough to beat a winless Dolphins team and things are likely to remain heated around the team until they wind up in the win column more often.
There won’t be a quarterback change in Las Vegas this week.
Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak opened his Monday press conference by saying that Kirk Cousins will be the team’s starter for their Week 8 game against the Jets. The announcement came a day after Kubiak said the team is “thinking about everything to fix our problems” when asked about turning to rookie Fernando Mendoza.
“There is no controversy there,” Kubiak said. “He’s playing at a very high level. He’s gotta continue to do that for us to win and we gotta keep helping all the areas around him. Excited for him to go play against the Jets.”
Kubiak said that Mendoza is “going to play at some point,” but reiterated that Cousins is playing well and that the Raiders are “in the hunt” with a 3-4 record on the season.
Cousins was 26-of-44 for 295 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 35-21 loss to the Rams, but did much of his damage after the Raiders fell behind 28-3 in the first half of the game.
