FLORHAM PARK — It hasn’t been an easy road for the New York Jets on offense in 2023.
They lost their franchise quarterback after four plays in Week 1 and have been trying to pick up the pieces ever since. Zach Wilson, in what was expected to be a redshirt year where he could learn the game, was thrust into the starting role and promptly struggled to get the offense back on track.
Now, after three straight losses and a month of being unable to score over 14 points, Tim Boyle takes over as QB1 of the Jets heading into a key Black Friday contest against the Miami Dolphins.
“I am excited for his opportunity for him,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said of Boyle. “I know he’s had some starts in the League before, but this is another opportunity with another team. I know the guys will go out there and play their butts off, and we’ll see what happens.”
Boyle has three starts over a six-year NFL career that has stops in Chicago, Detroit, and Green Bay. He went 0-3 in those starts with the Lions while throwing more interceptions than touchdowns. While with the Packers, though, Boyle backed up Aaron Rodgers and was coached by Nathaniel Hackett – two people that loom large in the Jets locker room.
“Coach Hackett is awesome,” Boyle said. “Super up front, super transparent. I’m excited to have him in my helmet on gameday. Kind of a nice comforting voice I’ve known for a while.”
As offensive coordinator of Gang Green, Hackett has been tasked with trying to solve the offensive rut the Jets find themselves in. They are currently the worst offensive unit on third down in league history and rank at the bottom of almost every single passing category.
While not all of it could be thrown on the previous starter in Wilson, the easiest move to make leading up to a key Week 12 contest was to change the quarterback. That’s exactly what the team did. A big reason for the change is that Boyle and Wilson have different styles and that could end up leading to more opportunities for some of New York’s better talents on the outside.
“My priority this week is gonna be getting the ball out on time,” Boiyle explained. “Not trying to take sacks, so I think just getting the ball in our playmaker’s hands & let him have fun with it. Just keeping us on pace. I want to get down to the red zone & score some points.”
Scoring points has been an issue for the Jets offense this season.
Up until the 32-6 loss to Buffalo, New York had gone 12 quarters without scoring a single offensive touchdown. They rank among the worst teams in red-zone offense and have gone through 14 different offensive linemen through the first 10 games of the season. Their stretch of offensive futility grew so much, that a quarterback change was one of the only moves left to make.
To Boyle though, the best way to perform as the signal-caller for the Jets, and to turn around the season, is all about confidence.
“You got to feel like you’re dangerous out there,” Boyle explained. “You can’t go into a play or a series thinking with any doubt, so I think confidence is critical. Confidence is everything when playing quarterback. It’s a mindset. I think that’s the culmination of playing quarterback, is being on time, being accurate, & making good decisions.”
Boyle won’t be able to do much better than his predecessor though if players around him don’t play better. New York’s biggest reason for making the quarterback change in the first place was because they needed to get a spark into their season while sitting at 4-6.
Wilson may not have been the sole reason for the group’s struggles, but he certainly didn’t help solve them either. For a quarterback as young as the former second-overall pick, he not only understands why the move was made but is still willing to do whatever is necessary to help the organization in the long run.
“You have to look at the situation,” Wilson stated. “We’re not scoring touchdowns. Regardless of what I’m doing my job as a quarterback is to score points. I can sit here and say that I’ve grown tremendously this year but if you’re not scoring touchdowns it doesn’t matter. It really doesn’t.”
New York’s offense is in a state of flux no matter who seems to be at quarterback. While a spark can be had from a change in the signal-caller, it’ll be up to the rest of the roster to see how much of a turnaround the group is capable of making.
“One person is not going to change everything,” Saleh concluded. “It’s collective, it’s coaching, it’s the other 10 players on the football field. We all have to take part and try to find ways to get the offense to move.”
