Happy Thanksgiving

Edition #525

Good morning! 🍗

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! Hope today is full of food, friends, family and if you’re thinking about the Jets today, plenty of beer too.

We’ve got some pretty good games on the schedule today with the Lions and Packers and 49ers and Seahawks. I expect the Cowboys to blow the doors off the Commanders, but will still give it a watch.

🟢 COACH TALK

Nathaniel Hackett was asked to describe what Tim Boyle brings to the team: “He has an unbelievable knowledge of the system. He has a tenacity when it comes to his preparation. He nonstop from everything, from every single drawing to every single thing on the game sheet, he prepares truly like a starter and has since day one. He’s been in this system for two years at Green Bay when we were there, and now here, so I think his command of the system and understanding is something that we really love.”

He also gave a strange answer when asked about Boyle’s awful college and professional stat line: “You know, I don’t really look back at that, but it’s one of those things for us, he’s done everything that we’ve asked. As I said, his preparation is amazing, and his understanding is amazing. Now we get a chance to go out there and test it and see how he responds. When it comes to stats, there are so many different ways to look at numbers. Good, bad, there are people throughout this League that have been very, very good, and one of the best ever, and there’s those where all those same people are not as good. So, I think that fluctuates, and there’s so many things, that’s why this game is so great, so many things that change that. Personnel situations, so many different things.”

Jeff Ulbrich was asked about the challenge with Miami moving Tyreek around so much: “Yeah, it’s a tremendous challenge. And it’s not just Tyreek, it’s all of them. They’ll move (Jaylen) Waddle, they’ll move the tight end, they move the backs all over the place. They are constantly on the move on offense. So, like you said, from a communication standpoint, it’s paramount. If we don’t lose our voice after this game, then we failed. We have to be talking, we have to stay ahead of them, we have to anticipate it every single snap, and then we have to adjust accordingly.”

⚪ PLAYER TALK

Garrett Wilson was unhappy with his fumble on Sunday: “I’ve got to be better with ball security,’’ Wilson said. “I’ve been lax with it in my career so far, and I’ve got to fix it. I’ve never been one to put it on the ground often, but the things that have happened these past few weeks, it makes me take a hard look in the mirror. Then, as far as my habits at practice and how I’m going about that, I’ve got to start really paying attention to that because it’s leaking onto the field on Sunday. The best way you can go about that is make sure your ball security is good during the week, and knowing those guys that are going to target the ball.”

Zach Wilson was asked if he believed he was being made the scapegoat, following an Aaron Rodgers comment: “I don’t think I’m being scapegoated. Absolutely not,” Wilson said, via video from SNY Jets. “You’ve got to look at the situation. We’re not scoring touchdowns. Like, regardless of what I’m doing, my job as a quarterback is to help us score points. That’s what I’ve said to you guys. I can sit here and say I’ve had a bunch of growth and tremendous whatever this year, but if you’re not scoring touchdowns, it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t. I get that. That’s a quarterback’s job to help everybody be on the same page, and help everybody get to the right place and do the right things, and we’re not doing that all the way across the board, so you can’t just keep doing the same thing.”

🟢 POWER RANKINGS

ESPN - 26th - Last Week 23 - “It's not a "hot" seat, per se, but the temperature will continue to rise if Saleh and the Jets don't start winning some games. The Aaron Rodgers injury in Week 1 flipped everything upside down, but that's no excuse for total ineptitude on offense. The offseason decision to make Zach Wilson the QB2 has compromised the entire season. Saleh's record is 15-29, Douglas 24-42. Those kinds of records usually get people fired. Maybe they will get a lifeline because of the Rodgers situation.”

NFL - 25th - Last Week 22 - “Robert Saleh benched Zach Wilson in a blowout, inserted Tim Boyle (who was worse) and said on Monday that Boyle would start against Miami this week in the “Black Friday” game. Whether Boyle ends up starting one game or for the rest of the season, he’s likely to struggle if the Jets’ blocking continues to be horrific. And though Saleh’s defense kept the Jets in Sunday’s game for a half, I thought Sauce Gardner hurt his team. His hold in the end zone helped set up a Bills TD, and what looked like a frustration penalty -- unnecessary roughness for suplexing Stefon Diggs after the whistle had blown -- didn’t help. Neither did Gardner’s decision to undercut Josh Allen’s pass to Khalil Shakir that ended up an 81-yard score. Basically, nothing is working well now, and the season is slipping away.”

The Athletic - 26th - Last Week 27th - “Robert Saleh finally benched Zach Wilson on Sunday, but it didn’t make any difference. Wilson was 7-for-15 for 81 yards. Tim Boyle was even worse in relief — 7-for-14 for 33 yards. Punter Thomas Morstead completed his only pass of the day and might be the best option at quarterback, but Saleh said Monday that Boyle will start Friday’s game. He’s got his work cut out for him. The Jets’ offensive EPA per game (minus-13.91) is the worst of any NFL team in the last 10 years.”

Yahoo - 19th - Last Week 18th - “The Jets finally switched quarterbacks. Tim Boyle will replace Zach Wilson for Friday's game against Miami. That probably won't change anything, but the Jets had to try something else. Anything else.”

CBS - 22nd - Last Week 21st - “So much for the idea of Aaron Rodgers coming back for a playoff push. This team is done. The offense is horrible, no matter who plays quarterback.”

◼️ The Jets made a couple of moves yesterday. Tanzel Smart was resigned to the practice squad and offensive lineman Dennis Kelly was released.

The Jets also have to make a decision on Duane Brown today. If Brown is not activated following his practice window being opened 21 days ago, then he will revert to IR for the rest of the season.

Whenever Saleh has spoken about Brown, he’s not sounded overly confident. So it’s 50/50 what will happen with him today. Mekhi Becton had a low ankle sprain and is working to be fit for tomorrow’s game, but that’s still questionable as well.

In short, the offensive line remains a little bit of a mess. I believe we’ve had 13 different players start on the offensive line through the first 10 weeks of the season.

◼️ We’re going to get into the Miami preview tomorrow, but there is one stat that jumped out at me while I was doing some prep work beforehand.

Miami has one of the worst red-zone defences in football. They allow touchdowns on 65.63% of trips into the money zone. Only Detroit, Carolina and Chicago allow a higher percentage.

The Jets as you all know have the worst red-zone offence in football, scoring on just 26.09% of trips. So something is going to have to give.

This isn’t the Brian Flores led Miami Dolphins defense, the unit run by Vic Fangio isn’t half as aggressive. Miami blitzes on just 22.7% of snaps, which is 22nd in the league, but they generate pressure on 26.1% of dropbacks, which is 5th in the league.

Basically, if the line can keep Boyle clean, with his release and his processing…he could find some real success, especially in the red zone. But if you expect the line to keep him clean, then you probably haven’t been watching much Jets football.

But…as I mentioned on Tuesday. Boyle’s decisiveness and release can help this offensive line unit:

“On 8 pressured dropbacks yesterday, Zach Wilson was sacked 5 times for a 62.5% pressure-to-sack rate, which is absurd. On 6 pressured dropbacks, Tim Boyle was sacked once for a 16.7% pressure-to-sack rate. Same circumstances, Buffalo were still bringing heat, same players, but significantly different numbers.”

◼️ Connor Hughes made an interesting comment in one of his videos yesterday when he was asked about Zach Wilson’s future with the franchise:

“I’m actually surprised the Jets didn’t cut Zach Wilson outright on Monday, I thought that was going to happen based on my conversations with some people within that building, and I think someone probably stepped in there to keep. that from happening”

Obviously, this is an opinion based on conversations but I think I’d have been surprised to see Zach cut considering everything that’s been said about him. How he’s getting better, how it’s a collective and not an individual failing etc.

Now, I do think he’ll end up getting cut in the off-season and it will be presented as a good opportunity for both sides to move on for a fresh start. I think he’ll get cut because the Jets will draft a new QB to develop behind Rodgers. That’s my opinion, whether they draft him in the first or third round, I’m not sure. But it makes too much sense to get a QB on a rookie deal to sit and learn behind Rodgers.

As Jets fans, we have this irrational fear that as soon as we drop a player, he’ll get picked up by the Patriots and become a superstar. But I’m not sure that’s happening in this situation.