Saleh has ‘a lot of faith’ in White
For at least this week, Mike White will have control of the Jets’ offense. And to head coach Robert Saleh and his staff, he’s already demonstrated an ability to function in their system.
White took over for Zach Wilson — who left the Jets’ 54-13 loss to the Patriots on Sunday with a PCL sprain and is expected to miss two to four weeks — and completed 20 of 32 passes for 202 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Saleh said Monday that White did “a lot of really good things” and executed the offense well, working through his progressions, finding the check-down options and creating a few explosive-play opportunities.
“We have a lot of faith in Mike,” Saleh said. “That’s why we kept him.”
Two hours after Saleh’s press conference, though, the Jets traded for quarterback Joe Flacco, who played with the Jets last year, and added experience to their depth chart.
Sunday marked the first appearance of White’s NFL career, and the Jets didn’t have another quarterback on the active roster after Wilson’s injury. White will work with the first team during practice this week — as he needs to have every rep, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said — and LaFleur expects White’s preparation approach to remain the same, with the obvious difference him being named the starter before the game.
LaFleur acknowledged that the fourth quarter “kind of got away from us” — the Jets’ last five drives ended with a pair of interceptions, a turnover on downs, a fumble and a punt — but also said that White’s play before that contained flashes of strong decisionmaking and command of the offense.
Four plays after entering the game, White rolled left and found Corey Davis in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, which LaFleur called “a heck of a throw.” He navigated drives into New England territory that presented opportunities to add more points, too.
Such support for White has echoed throughout the rest of the Jets’ locker room. When asked his impressions of White, Ty Johnson chuckled before saying, “He’s a stud, man. Come on now, it’s Mike White.” As a backup, White always gave the Jets’ first-team defense a “great look” while with the scout team, Johnson said. He “can make any throw,” cornerback Bryce Hall added.
And now, the Jets need him to seamlessly transition to the starting role — the new, temporary commander of the offense tasked with eliminating slow starts and losses that keep stringing together.