Jets bench Zach Wilson -- again -- in loss to Jaguars
BOSTON -- A lot of things have gone down hill for the Patriots over the last few years. But as dark as it may seem in New England, one thing remains the same: At least they're not the New York Jets.
On Thursday night, the Jets lost their fourth straight game and couldn't muster much of anything on offense, falling to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 19-3, at MetLife Stadium. Quarterback Zack Wilson had another miserable evening for New York, and was benched for the second time in the last few weeks.
Mac Jones hasn't been anything special this season and there are some serious questions about him being New England's quarterback of the future. But even through all his struggles, Mac has been better than Wilson this year. That's saying something.
Wilson was making his second start Thursday night after losing his job to Mike White in Week 12. He got the nod by default, with White out with a rib injury. This time around, the former No. 2 overall pick was benched in favor of Chris Streveler, a 27-year-old journeyman who has been part of six different organizations since 2020.
While it wasn't very hard to do, Streveler outplayed Wilson on Thursday night. Wilson was booed throughout the game and was eventually booed off the field by Jets fans after he competed nine of his 18 passes for just 92 yards and an interception.
Streveler took over late in the third quarter with the Jets trailing 16-3, and immediately gave the New York offense a little spark. The team went on a 73-yard drive in Streveler's first series, as the QB completed three of his five passes for 41 yards and ran for 37 yards on six attempts. The Jets didn't score any points, coming up short on a fourth-an-2 from the Jacksonville 13-yard line, but it was the team's best drive of the night up to that point.
Streveler racked up 90 passing yards and ran for 54 yards (leading the team) over his three series. The Jets didn't put any points on the board, with Garrett Wilson fumbling one possession away before another turnover on downs, but it was a much smoother operation than when Wilson was in the game.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh said that Streveler was going to be a temporary replacement to help get the run game going, but he opted to stick with the quarterback once things got rolling. He did say that the Jets will be going back to Wilson at some point, but didn't expand any further.
But getting benched for Mike White and Chris Streveler in the span of a month has to be a big hit to Wilson's confidence. Thursday's loss dropped the Jets to 7-8 for the season, and into 10th place in the AFC.