The New York Jets went into their Week 17 trip to Seattle still with a chance at reaching the postseason. They needed to win their last two games against the Seahawks and Dolphins and hope the Patriots lose one of their final two against either the Dolphins or Bills.
When doctors medically cleared Mike White to return to action after suffering fractured ribs in Week 14 against the Bills, the Jets felt their playoff chances still had a pulse, considering how poorly Zach Wilson had played against the Lions and Jaguars in the two games since.
As soon as the Jets got the good news on White, they immediately put him back in the starting lineup, feeling he gave the team the best chance to win. Those chances quickly started to fade as the Jets couldn’t get anything going on offense in Seattle.
Then came the shot White took right before the Jets went into the locker room at halftime, down 17-6. That shot may have compromised White through the rest of the game. White finished 23/46 for 240 yards and two interceptions, one of which came on that Hail Mary at the end of the first half, and was sacked four times in the 23-6 loss.
Looking back, however, head coach Robert Saleh doesn’t believe it was a mistake to play White last week, noting White felt good last week and during the first half.
“Doctor clearance, all that stuff, Saleh said. “We tried it, he felt really good, and he looked really good in the first half and then it got re-aggravated and so you could play the hypothetical or was it a mistake? He still felt good, he played good football in the first half, but we knew the risk would be that if he re-aggravated it, it wasn’t going to be good and it got re-aggravated.”
Unfortunately, White has now revealed he has five fractured ribs and began feeling discomfort this week in practice. He went from being listed as an estimated full participant in Wednesday’s walkthrough to being limited Thursday to being ruled out Friday. Joe Flacco will start and Zach Wilson will be the backup.
White’s future with the team is now up in the air. He is set to be a free agent, the Jets are saying they are committed to developing Zach Wilson but will also be speculated to go after a veteran quarterback such as Jimmy Garoppolo or Derek Carr or perhaps even Ryan Tannehill.
You hope White’s run with the Jets doesn’t end on this note, but the NFL is a business and there’s always the chance White will be fighting for a role elsewhere in 2023. One thing you cannot argue, however, is his heart after what he fought through this season.
