I’m honestly fine with the team going with Flacco in week 1. I would rather not have that defense being his first game action of the season
I think week 1 can be all but ruled out. This is a 2-4 week injury as initially suggested, but the problem is that Zach missed a lot of practice. He is not some vet who can just miss say 3 weeks, have a week with the team to shake off the rust and start. I think he gets healthy, starts practicing with second team for at least a week, then another week with starters before he is ready to go. Hence 2-4 weeks now looks like 4-6 weeks. I think best case he plays week 2 against Browns, or if he needs more practice time, week 3 against Bengals.
I agree. Guys rehab from injuries really quickly in some cases though which is why I'm not totaling ruling out Week 1. However, if I were to bet on it, I'd bet on him returning in either Week 2 or Week 3. We shall see!
Regardless of when he comes back, week 1 or 2 will not be easy for Wilson. Both defenses are very good, and Miles Garrett may have Zach running for his life in week 2 if the line doesn't shore up.
Last year it took the OL 4 or 5 games to pick themselves up after a very bad start. This year we have 2 new OL and 4 OL playing new positions. There will be a learning curve for this OL before they start improving. If ZW has to sit the first few games that might not be a terrible thing for him.
Great outcome for Zach and the Jets! I agree with what some of you have said: He likely won't play Week 1. There are a couple main reasons: 1. He needs to get healthy obviously. 2. He needs to get back into football shape. 3. He needs time to actually practice with his teammates. He is going to miss valuable practices and pre-season games while he recovers. I don't think you can just throw him back in. It could be like a 3 week process once he is healthy where Week 1 he works with the 2's. Week 2 split reps with Flacco and backs him up against the Browns. Week 3 take over and start vs. the Bengals. Something like that would make sense to me.
Do you remember Leslie O'Neal of the Chargers? I think the surgeon got confused and put a hand grenade in his knee rather than repairing it. It became quite a saga.
I guess it depends. If Flacco can process faster and make better decisions he should be better off than ZW but if he doesn't get rid of the ball quickly then he will likely take a lot more hits than ZW. Zach is very good at making the 1st man miss and avoiding taking clean hits even if he is responsible for a lot of sacks. I guess we will see. Hopefully Flacco can put together 1 or 2 really good games.
Much as I'm "meh" about Flacco... I wouldn't be shocked if he came out and played really well. His head seems to be in a good place... and zen is an advantage to the position. Zach needs more zen... and quick.
If you give him time, he will do some damage. He's always had a big arm and the Jets have some weapons.
He's started 176 games... so I have no doubt about his ability to do some damage. It's the self-infected wounds the Jets seem to give themselves...
The Jets "D" is certainly not yet where it needs to be and yet every practice multiple guys are getting to the QB it seems on almost every play, so this OL need to improve and fast before I'd want to put a guy with a recently repaired knee out there. Frankly, I don't think even 6 weeks is enough unless this OL becomes the second coming of the 7 Blocks of Granite. That said, if he stays out that long by the time he returns we might have a bit of a QB controversy if Flacco finds his second youth. But whenever he does come back he's going to have to show real improvement to justify them just handing the ball back to him.
