Mike White may have felt good about his body but the doctors had a different opinion. White has not been medically cleared yet to play and will be out for Sunday against the Lions.
Buy Jets TicketsJets HC Robert Saleh: Zach Wilson will start vs. the Lions.
Mike White will be limited at practice but will be OUT.
Jets doctors would not clear White for contact. #DETvsNYJ
— Eric Allen (@eallenjets) December 16, 2022
That means Zach Wilson returns to the starting lineup after being inactive for the past three weeks.
Head coach Robert Saleh said the decision was made last night and this morning on White, calling it a “contact issue” and that “if this were 7 on 7, he’s be out there playing, but it’s not.”
“Let’s protect him from him,” Saleh said Friday. “This is an organizational decision to move forward and fight another day.” White will be reevaluated on Monday.
Robert Saleh said the Mike White decision could've gone until game time but they made the final call last night/this morning.
"This is an organizational decision to move forward and fight another day."#Jets
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) December 16, 2022
Jets will re-evaluate Mike White on Monday. Jets doctors did not clear White for contact. so Zach Wilson will start Sunday vs. the Lions.
'We have to protect the player from the player.'
'He's an absolute warrior,' Saleh says of White.#DETvsNYJ
— Eric Allen (@eallenjets) December 16, 2022
Saleh said the decision to move Wilson up to No. 2 on the depth chart was made regardless of the status of White.
Wilson has spent the last three weeks reworking his fundamentals. Saleh said “I don’t think it’s impossible [to fix his issues in just three weeks]. He’s done a really nice job. He’s had two of his best throwing days in practice.”
“He’s the same quarterback that once went 18 for 18 in a bowl game,” Saleh added on Wilson. That bowl game was the 2018 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Western Michigan.
White’s status also now begs the question of his status for Week 16 as well, with the Jets on a short week. They play just five days later against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Saleh said there’s a chance, but it will be tough with the short week.
Saleh said there’s a chance that White can play Thursday vs the Jaguars. But it will be tough on a short week.
— Andy Vasquez (@andy_vasquez) December 16, 2022
It is worth noting that while White was cleared to return against the Bills, further testing during the week showed more of an injury, per Brian Costello of the New York Post.
To clear one thing up, Mike White was cleared to return to the game Sunday in Buffalo after he had X-Rays in the stadium. He had further, more precise testing this week that showed further injury and that led to him not being cleared for contact this week.
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) December 16, 2022
For now, it’s back to No. 2 for the Jets in a very important game, almost a must-win, against the Lions.
