For WR Garrett Wilson, there is no time like the present. With the Jets 2 games behind the Broncos (who own the tiebreaker over the Jets) for the final wild card in the AFC, Wilson has put the team's 3-7 start in his rearview and placed his focus on their final 7 games of the regular season.
"You can't go back," he said. "I need to find a way to play my best football over these final 7 games. That is how I am look at these last 7 at least. I got to do what they are asking of me and play as the best version of myself. And do my part in helping them win games. We have to fix what we got to fix and get better now."
In the Jets' Week 10 loss to the Cardinals last Sunday, Wilson and the offense did not play well. Wilson caught 5 passes for 41 yards, breaking his streak of 5 consecutive games with 90-plus yards receiving, and the offense gained a season-low 207 yards and failed to score a touchdown even though the offense put together several long drives.
Wilson, however, has still had a strong season. He leads the Jets with 65 receptions, second most in the NFL, 704 yards and 5 touchdowns (tied) and has 5-plus receptions in 8 straight games (longest active streak in NFL) and the second-longest single-season streak in franchise history.
"Personally, I need to go out there and get more separation and get it faster," Wilson said. "I need to do my part to help us be the offense that I think we can be. Our window is dwindling. We need to get this going right away."
The blueprint Wilson and the Jets' offense hope to follow, as they try to bounce back from their performance at Arizona, is their 21-point second half against the Texans in Week 9. Wilson registered 9 receptions for 113 yards and made a pair of spectacular touchdown catches in the second half.
"I felt like we had a lot of good matchups in the Texans game, and we took advantage of them," Wilson said. "We did what we were supposed to do when we played against them. This team last week did a little better job showing us things that other teams weren't doing pre-snap to fog up the look once we get into the play. Then all of sudden we are playing from behind. We have to embrace what we did versus Houston and play our best when it is needed."
The Colts' defense could provide an opportunity for Wilson to get going once again. The third-year wideout, however, is not overlooking Indianapolis. Led by Pro Bowl CB Kenny Moore, the Colts ' defense ranks 27th in the NFL in passing yards allowed (238.4 per game) and 16th in passing TDs (14).
"Kenny Moore has been a player that I watched for a really long time and ever since I have gotten into the league, he has kept his play up," Wilson said. "There are a couple of guys I know over there, Nick Cross and Jaylon Jones. They have a bunch of really good young players that fly around. I am really looking forward to it."
