After reviewing film of the Jets' 30-6 victory Sunday over the Texans, Jets HC Robert Saleh picked up where he left off in his postgame in Monday's press conference continuing to rave about the play of QB Zach Wilson and the offense's performance.
"He was really really good man," Saleh said of the third-year QB. "And just like I said it after the game and now after watching the tape and looking at it in more detail, it was the best game he has ever played in my opinion."
The victory at MetLife Stadium snapped the Jets' five-game losing streak. During the skid the offense managed just 2 touchdowns and 36 points. In the second half against Houston, the Green & White scored 30 points on 3 touchdowns and totaled 247 yards and 15 first downs.
Back in the lineup after serving as the No. 3 emergency QB, Wilson completed 27-of-36 passes for 301 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. In the second half, He was 18 of 21 for 209 yards, the most in any half of his NFL career.
"He was awesome," Saleh said. "I felt like he was extremely decisive. He played fast. There were a lot of 'oh crap' moments where he stayed within the moment, and he made things work. He made a lot of things happen on his own off-schedule."
But for as well as Wilson played, Saleh said it was a collective effort getting the offense on track. Wilson, 24, spread the ball to 7 different receivers and 4 players had at least 3 rush attempts. WR Garrett Wilson led the way with 9 receptions for 108 yards and RB Breece Hall had 126 all-purpose yards and a touchdown.
"He tried Garrett [Wilson] on a couple of shots," Saleh said. "He was very decisive in getting to the check down rather than trying to hold to let things develop. He was canceling and saying no faster, getting it to Breece (Hall) and when he had an opportunity to get it to Garrett, he got it to Garrett, and he was just moving the ball around. Like I said, I thought he was extremely decisive, and he played extremely fast."
The Jets offensive line continued to deal with a myriad injuries. Against Houston, the Jets started their ninth different combination in nine games and had to play 8 different linemen throughout the game. On Monday, Saleh said that rookie C Joe Tippmann, who sustained a calf contusion, could possibly play at Miami on Sunday. Tippmann missed 6 snaps while being treated, but returned to play 91% of the snaps on offense.
But despite the instability, the line gave Wilson & Co. a strong performance. In the second half, the team ran for 4.1 yards per carry on 15 attempts.
"There are a lot of things that come into play in terms of the offense together," Saleh said. "I thought the O-line played halfway decent. I thought our receivers were winning their one-on-one battles. He gave guys opportunity balls to go make plays, [TE Tyler] Conklin had a couple, one-on-one shots."
Leading up to Sunday's performance, Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft had been replaced by QB Tim Boyle in the Jets' Week 11 32-6 loss to the Bills.
Saleh and Wilson are focused on building on the strong win over Houston.
"Consistency is always the truest measure of performance," Saleh said. "And it could be good and bad. So yesterday was really good and we've got to find a way to go do it again."
