The Dolphins haven’t named a starter for their Week 18 game against the Jets, but Jets head coach Robert Saleh has revealed his choice.
Mike White will get the start for the second straight week. White did not look fully recovered from the fractured ribs that caused him to miss two games while turning the ball over three times against the Seahawks in last Sunday’s 23-6 loss that eliminated the Jets from playoff contention, but Saleh said he’ll be a full participant in practice.
Saleh also said that Joe Flacco will be the No. 2 quarterback, so Zach Wilson has played his final game of his second NFL season. Getting benched for White makes it clear that the Jets did not see the growth they were looking for from the second overall pick of the 2021 draft and Saleh was asked this week if there’s still conviction that Wilson is the player they thought he was when he was drafted.
“I do have conviction, I do believe in people, especially if people work, especially when it’s as important to people as football, and they work as hard as a guy like Zach does,” Saleh said. “There’s so many more examples in the League where, if you love ball and you’re really willing to work at it relentlessly, then odds are you’re going to make it and I think if any franchise would recognize that there are so many former Jets out in the NFL that are having a lot of success right now. If there’s any franchise that should recognize say ‘hey, maybe we should give these young men a little bit of time,’ it would be this organization.”
Any decision on Wilson’s future is going to be tied directly to Saleh’s future and it’s sure to be one of the first topics of conversation this offseason, but Week 18 performance won’t be a data point for those discussions.