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Among the many dysfunctionalities displayed by the New York Jets on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, one of the most notable is the bizarre injury that Zach Wilson suffered.
After spending much of the game running for his life behind the Jets’ patchwork offensive line, Wilson finally got hurt and exited the game at the end of the second quarter.
The initial report out of the locker room, however, was that he left the game due to “dehydration.”
Zach Wilson remains in the locker room with dehydration, according to @TracyWolfson. pic.twitter.com/2AKcplmDOc
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 17, 2023
Then, Jets PR told reporters that while he left the game with a head injury, he was not being entered into the concussion protocol.
By the time the game between the Jets and the Dolphins ended (Gang Green got shut out in a 30-0 loss), however, the Jets confirmed that Wilson was, in fact, being evaluated for a concussion.
Final update. So per the Jets, he left first half early because of “hydration.” He didn’t come out for second half due to “head injury” — but wasn’t yet being evaluated for a concussion. He then entered concussion protocol (for the second time of the game) and was ruled out. https://t.co/8b6LJ7gYyX
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) December 17, 2023
Given how haphazardly the entire situation was handled, there were NFL fans who were critical of the Jets, who were officially eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend, as well.
Wilson’s concussion comes after reports of the third-year signal-caller being hesitant about returning to the lineup due to the risk of injuring himself ahead of what he believes is an offseason that will see him traded elsewhere.
If Wilson can’t (or won’t) play next week, the Jets will likely have to turn to Trevor Siemian for what will surely be a miserable home game against the similarly and grossly mismanaged Washington Commanders.
In addition to a home game against the Commanders, the Jets have games against the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots remaining on their schedule.
Now that their playoff chances are officially dead and Aaron Rodgers has no intelligent reason to return to the field, it’ll be interesting to see how hard the locker room plays over the next few weeks with head coach Robert Saleh’s job perhaps hanging in the balance.