On Wednesday morning, Jets HC announced QB Zach Wilson will be elevated to the No. 2 spot behind Mike White and Joe Flacco will return to third on the depth chart.
"Zach's been doing a great job," Saleh said. "He's been deliberate in his approach over the last three weeks. He's been holding himself accountable in regard to how he wants to attack practice, how he's been performing in practice and going against our defense, which I think is a pretty good defense to go against and working on all the different things we've been asking him to accomplish."
White, who had his ribs evaluated after Sunday's 20-12 loss to the Bills, was limited at practice Wednesday. But the Jets expect he'll start for a fourth consecutive time Sunday against the Lions.
"The timing is coincidence more than anything," Saleh said of Wilson's elevation to backup. "We're still working as if [White] is playing this week. He's limited, he'll get his work in, but he feels good. He's getting some work done while we're stretching but then he'll come out for all the team periods."
Wilson will be active for the first time since the Jets' Week 11 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots. The second-year passer has thrown for 1,279 yards, 4 TDs and 5 INTS in seven games. After Wilson completed 9 of 22 for 77 yards against New England, Saleh said his young QB needed a "reset" to work on fundamentals.
"I'll give [Wilson] and [Rob] Calabrese a lot of credit," Saleh said. "Just working relentlessly to just get back into standing in the pocket, delivering the football, getting his feet underneath him in the direction we want to throw, getting our eyes to the target. [Wilson] has been good and it's not over. Obviously, he'll continue working, but just understanding that you're next man up, so the mental part of the preparation along with continuing to tie in his feet and footwork are all together."
Flacco, who started the first three games for the Jets and has 5 TD passes this season, took in three snaps against the Bills including one that resulted in a strip-sack. With only four games remaining in the regular season, Saleh is keeping the big picture in mind.
"You're always team first," he said. "The guys who put us in the best position to win will be on the field and I think we've been pretty consistent with that. If we feel like a coach isn't getting the job done, I'm going to challenge the coaches, it's all the same. We're always looking team first."
