The New York Jets will have a new starting quarterback on Black Friday against the Dolphins, and a new backup, too.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh announced Monday afternoon that Tim Boyle would get the start in Friday's contest, with Trevor Siemian serving as the primary backup. Meanwhile, Zach Wilson, who was benched in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills, will be active as the No. 3 emergency quarterback.
Coach Saleh on the decision to start QB Tim Boyle this week.
He also adds that QB Trevor Siemian will be the immediate backup. pic.twitter.com/sxDIg708yH
— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 20, 2023
Wilson had previously struggled mightily to keep the Jets afloat in the wake of Aaron Rodgers tearing his Achilles tendon just four snaps into the regular season opener against Buffalo.
Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, Wilson managed only 81 passing yards with one touchdown, one interception, and the offense never quite shifted out of neutral.
Saleh and the coaching staff had previously given Wilson every opportunity to turn the offense around, but support for the embattled third-year quarterback — and the decision to keep playing him, had eroded in the front office in recent weeks.
"Legit quarterbacks can overcome their own mistakes and those around them," a team source told FanBuzz. "Zach has zero chance to do that."
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Wilson completed just 7-of-15 passes for 81 yards with one touchdown and one interception. While Boyle wasn't much better, at 7-of-14 for 33 yards with an interception, the Jets' offense did seem to open up a bit, especially in the running game, when Boyle came into the game.
Clearly, in the wake of the offense gaining even a modicum of traction, and Wilson's continued struggles, it simply became untenable for the Jets to continue running Wilson out there.
Prior to getting benched Sunday afternoon, Wilson completed 59.2 percent of his passes for 1,944 yards with six touchdowns to seven interceptions on the season.
