Sunday’s performance by Jets quarterback Mike White felt familiar.
It was just over a year ago when White came in for an injured Zach Wilson and lit the Bengals up for 405 yards in a shocking Jets win. Sunday’s win over the Bears was not an upset like that one, but White, now replacing an ineffective Wilson, again played an outstanding game and led the Jets to a 31-10 victory.
Last year, White’s star turn was brief. After becoming a folk hero against the Bengals, he started off strong on a Thursday night against the Colts but an elbow injury forced him from the game in the first quarter. When he made his third start 10 days later, the Bills turned White back into a pumpkin with four interceptions.
So this year, the trick for White will be turning one strong performance into a string of them. White took advantage of a bad Bears defense at home on Sunday. He now faces two tough road games at Minnesota and at Buffalo in the next two weeks.
What will make this year different than last?
For starters, the Jets are a better team. Last year’s defense was playing terribly during White’s three-game starting stretch. The Jets allowed 31, 45 and 45 points in those three games. This year’s defense has kept opponents under 20 points in six of its last seven games.
“I think we’re better equipped on defense to allow us to not have to force and push the ball downfield the way we had to last year,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Against Buffalo, I think it was 17-3 at halftime and then 24-3 after their first drive and then we turned the ball over three consecutive drives and that’s us trying to be aggressive to get the ball downfield. So, I think our run game affords us the opportunity to continue to play in a manner that we do. But [White will] get those opportunities and he’s going to continue to get those opportunities until we see fit, but we’ll see.”
White also has more talent around him on offense with the addition of rookie Garrett Wilson, who caught two touchdown passes from him Sunday, and tight ends Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah.
The Jets found a winning formula even when Wilson was at quarterback by playing good defense, running the ball and not turning it over. White did that perfectly Sunday against the Bears. Teams are now going to go to school on White and teams will have more success pressuring him than the Bears, who only hit him twice.
White said after Sunday’s game that he learned a lot from last year’s four-interception day against the Bills when he felt like he tried to do too much. Against the Bears, as against the Bengals last year, White took what the defense gave him and did not force anything.
“That’s part of playing quarterback,” White said. “That’s part of handling the successes and turning the page and moving on. I think that’s where I got in trouble in the Buffalo game last year and I learned from that. Like I said earlier, you’ve got to learn from your lows and build upon that and just keep playing smart, winning football.”
Saleh was pressed a bit Monday on whether the job is now White’s for the rest of the season or if the Jets still intend to go back to Wilson. Saleh did not want to play the hypothetical game but he did say “when we feel like Zach is ready to roll, he’s going to roll.”
“It’s a week-to-week deal, the full intent is to get Zach ready to play football again. I’ll make that decision when I’m ready,” Saleh said. “And while we’re going through this process, it’s Mike White’s opportunity to take advantage of every last play that he gets. We’re going to leave it at that. We’ll figure it out as we go.”