Will Garrett Wilson, Aaron Rodgers’ connection blossom for thriving Jets?

Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterSep 22, 2024, 06:00 AM ET

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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A look at what’s happening around the New York Jets:

1. Don’t tell Mel: One player not thriving in the Aaron Rodgers-infused offense is wide receiver Garrett Wilson, whose early numbers are down compared to his first two seasons.

“The entire focus of all three defenses we’ve played has been taking Garrett away,” Rodgers said. “It’s been [ESPN draft analyst] Mel Kiper’s worst nightmare — a lot of Cover 2.”

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That’s a reference, of course, to Kiper’s recent rant about how teams are using two deep safeties to eliminate long passes, robbing the sport of potential home-run plays.

In Wilson’s case, it’s part of the reason why his three-game stats look so ordinary — 15 receptions, 150 yards and a 57.7% catch rate, only slightly better than last year (56.5%), when he didn’t have a future Hall of Fame quarterback throwing to him.

In Thursday’s 24-3 win over the New England Patriots, Wilson had five catches for 33 yards, but he did score his first touchdown of the season.

Opponents are using split safeties on 43% of Wilson’s pass routes, according to Next Gen Stats, which is actually lower than last season (50%). What teams are doing is putting their best cornerback on Wilson and shading a safety over the top. In the past two games, the Tennessee Titans‘ L’Jarius Sneed and the Patriots’ Christian Gonzalez — two premier cover corners — traveled with him on almost every play.

It’s also apparent Wilson and Rodgers still are ironing out some wrinkles in their on-field relationship. There were at least two plays Thursday night in which they seemed to be on different pages. It conjures up thoughts of training camp, when they got into animated sideline discussions when rehashing plays.

“I have to get in the lab and have some of those conversations and figure out where I can be better at, for sure,” Wilson said.

If defenses are focused on Wilson, it should create opportunities for others (which it did against the Patriots) and open space for the running game. But eventually, if the Jets want to maximize their potential on offense, they will need Wilson to put up Wilson-like numbers.

New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson catches his first touchdown of the season against New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

2. ’21’ Club: Wide receiver Allen Lazard has caught 21 touchdown passes from Rodgers, dating to their years together with the Green Bay Packers. They’ve connected twice this season. The last one — Thursday night — was special because it was Rodgers’ first scoring pass at MetLife Stadium.

Lazard gave him the ball immediately after the play and, later in the locker room, gifted his game jersey to Rodgers. Lazard said he took home his own keepsake — his receiver gloves.

“That’s something I’m going to show my grandkids,” he said.

3. Three’s company: The Jets have scored three offensive touchdowns in three straight games. The last time that happened was 2019, per ESPN Research. They didn’t score their ninth touchdown last season until Week 11. What a difference a quarterback makes.

4. Will power: There were a lot of questions about defensive end Will McDonald IV at the start of the season, mainly about his size (6-foot-4, 236 pounds) and whether he could handle an expanded role. After three games, he’s the team’s biggest surprise.

Since individual sacks were first tracked in 1982, only one player in Jets history had more sacks than McDonald (five) through three games — legendary pass rusher Mark Gastineau. He had eight on his way to the NFL single-season record of 22 (since broken) in 1984.

Fittingly, McDonald wears the same number as Gastineau — 99.

McDonald is on an incredible pace in his career. In one-plus season, he has eight sacks in 152 pass rushes — one sack every 19 rushes. Consider: The 2023 NFL sack champion, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt, averaged one sack per 27 rushes.

New York Jets defensive end Will McDonald raises his arm as he celebrates sacking New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

5. A lot of nothing: Holdout Haason Reddick hasn’t played a snap for the Jets, and yet his stat line is almost identical to that of ex-Jets pass rusher Bryce Huff, who replaced Reddick with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Huff after two games: 59 snaps, one tackle, zero sacks, zero pressures.

Reddick: zeros across the board.

6. A fine mess: By sitting out three games, Reddick has now forfeited nearly $2.4 million in game checks, plus another $4.5 million in NFL-mandated fines and another $1.4 million in discretionary fines.

With the Jets on a mini-bye, this would seem to be the time to get the contract dispute resolved, giving him a few practices to get ready for their Week 4 matchup against the Denver Broncos.

If not, there’s a sense that it could last well into the season. That would fuel speculation about the possibility of a trade before the Nov. 5 deadline. The Jets have said they won’t trade him. A lot can change between now and then.

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7. Rodgers Standard Time: One area that needs to be cleaned up is the management of the play clock. The Jets had to burn two timeouts in the third quarter, continuing a trend. Coach Robert Saleh said “it’s going to be a yearlong thing” because Rodgers likes to milk the play clock, giving him more time to read the defense.

“If we have to sacrifice a couple of timeouts for Aaron Rodgers to be at his best,” Saleh said, “we’re fine with it.”

8. Cinderella story X3: On average, each team has one or two undrafted rookie free agents on its roster. What the Jets have is highly unusual — three in the same position group. We’re talking about the defensive line, with Braiden McGregor, Leonard Taylor III and Eric Watts.

The only team with more rookie UDFAs is the Los Angeles Rams. They have seven, including four defensive backs, based on midweek rosters, according to the Ourlads website. The Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints are tied with the Jets at three apiece.

“We got three young men who are talented and for whatever reason — God only knows — they slipped through the cracks in the draft,” Jets defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton said.

He said all three told him after the draft that their intention was to make the team.