FLORHAM PARK, NJ — Though all signs point to Joe Flacco as quarterback for the New York Jets’ season-opening campaign, coach Robert Saleh refused to rule out Zach Wilson, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Tuesday in Los Angeles.
“I don’t know if I have an opinion on that,” Saleh said Thursday, commenting on whether he expects to start Flacco in the opening game against the Baltimore Ravens — his first public statements since Wilson’s trial. “If Zach is ready to play, he will be the week one starter. If he’s not, Joe will. That’s no secret.
“We’re going to take it by how Zach looks, how he feels, how he moves, what the doctors tell us. Whenever that moment is, he will enter the field.”
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Wilson flew back from Los Angeles on Wednesday night and was back at the team facility Thursday morning. According to Saleh, he is “already on foot” and looking forward to beginning his rehab.
The calendar is working against Wilson, who sustained a torn meniscus and bruised bone in a preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles last Friday night. The Jets open the season in 24 days against the Baltimore Ravens. The original schedule was two to four weeks, and no additional damage was discovered at arthroscopy, sources said.
But the Jets plan to be cautious with their sophomore quarterback, who practiced for three weeks last season before returning to the lineup after spraining the PCL in the same knee — and that was a nonsurgical injury.
“We’re going to please him by making sure he’s 100% healthy,” Saleh said.
Though Wilson avoided a season-ending injury, the time lost will be a setback. He will miss preseason games against the Atlanta Falcons and New York Giants, as well as joint practices against those teams.
Wilson, 23, ranked No. 2 overall in 2021, is an inexperienced quarterback who needs as many practice reps as possible. He struggled last season, losing 10 of 13 starts and throwing just nine touchdown passes with 11 interceptions.
“If you want to be good at football, you have to play football. You have to practice football,” said offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. “Of course that can’t happen to him. So he will go and attack it in the best way he can. Unfortunately, he went through that last year. He knows what to do, what to see, what to do, what to say and do in meetings. He’ll make the best of the situation, just like all of us.
“The show goes on, right?”
In Flacco, 37, the Jets have a 14-year veteran and Super Bowl XLVII MVP for the Ravens. But Flacco has struggled in recent years, having lost 14 of his last 16 starts. Next on the depth chart is Mike White (three career starts).