Garrett Wilson Continues Hot Streak
Jets WR Garrett Wilson was the offense's most dynamic player Sunday, leading the team with 5 catches and a season-high 113 yards. That's Wilson's highest output since he had 162 yards against the Vikings in Week 13 of 2022.
The first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft has 382 receiving yards since Week 5, which ranks No. 2 in the NFL. His 31 receptions and 50 targets in that span lead all receivers and he ranks No. 1 in receptions (51) and tied for No. 4 (573) yards in the NFL this season.
The Ohio State product has eclipsed 100 yards in 3 of the last 4 games and he now has 8 games with 100-plus receiving yards, tied with Al Toon for the fourth most for a Jet in their first 41 career games.
Execution on Offense
The Jets' operation on offense Sunday wasn't efficient. The team burned all three of its timeouts before the end of the first quarter and took two delay-of-game penalties, including one on a 2-point attempt after RB Braelon Allen gave the Green & White a 22-17 lead with 2:57 remaining.
"I'm not exactly sure," QB Aaron Rodgers said of the issue. "On one of them, we were lagging out of the huddle, one I was trying to get the protection right. One I felt like we could have gotten off, but it was fine to take [the timeout] there. Yeah, our operation was a little slow at times."
Rodgers added of the 2-point conversion: "We had a shift and a motion and by the time it came down to it, the defense they were playing wasn't good for the play that was called. I figured let's just move it back to the 7, not that much of a difference. I liked the play that we called, but they brought zero pressure. I guessed wrong, they guessed right."
Mixed Bag on Special Teams
The Jets special teams had an up-and-down performance. WR-KR Xavier Gipson, on the positive side, put the Jets offense on the New England 47-yard line for its first possession with a 40-yard return after the defense held the Patriots to a three-and-out to start the game. Gipson finished with a career-high 71 return yards on 4 punts. That's the most by a Jet since Andre Roberts in 2018.
Gipson, a second-year player out of Stephen F. Austin, also recorded his first career receiving touchdown in the second quarter, a 1-yard strike from Aaron Rodgers near the front right pylon. Gipson is one of two players in the NFL this season to record a 40-yard punt return and a receiving touchdown in the same game, and he's the first Jet to do so since Jeremy Kerley in 2012.
"I felt like our energy was super high," Gipson said. "It sucks it turned out that way. We translated from practice to the game and we tried to carry it on. … We just have to hold on to that."
On the other hand, K Greg Zuerlein continued to struggle. Zuerlein connected on a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter that gave the Jets a 16-14 lead, but he missed an extra point in the first quarter and a 44-yard FG in the fourth that would have extended the Green & White's lead to 19-14.
"We've got to take a hard look at everything that we do, everything," interim HC Jeff Ulbrich said. "It's not just on Greg, it's on all of us. We'll do that this week."
