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He got triggered by a tweet . . .
from a beat writer. So now in the afterglow of a big win in Green Bay, there is a negative story about the Jets dominating the headlines.
After the Jets’ win over Green Bay, ESPN Jets-beat writer Rich Cimini, who also contributes to the team media partner, SNY, tweeted, “Of all the eye-popping stats/factoids today, this one is hard to understand: Elijah Moore: 0 targets. #Jets.”
The Jets, a big underdog, won 27-10, so maybe this stat didn’t matter that much.
But Moore, 22, a very prideful young man, decided to respond to defend his honor.
“If I say what I really wanna say, I’ll be the selfish guy…we winning,” Moore tweeted in response to Cimini. “Grateful! Huge blessing! All I ever wanted. [Bitter] sweet for me, but I’ll be solid. So I’ll just stay quiet. Just know I don’t understand either.”
Very passive-aggressive tweet. He claims he’s okay because they’re winning but then says “Just know I don’t understand either.”
Robert Saleh was asked about this tweet today.
“He’s fine. He’s a competitive young man,” Saleh said. “He wants to contribute. I’ve got no problem with Elijah. He’s one of our high-character individuals.”
Not sure he’s fine, but what else could the coach say?
So what is going on here?
Simple. There were not enough completions in this passing offense.
If they were completing more passes, like a Kansas City, Buffalo-type offense, everybody is happy because everybody is eating.
Against Miami, there were just 14 completions, and then the quarterback goes 10-18 passing for 110 yards, with 41 yards coming on a pass to Corey Davis. So the rest of the passing stats were 9 completions for 69 yards, so not a lot of catches or yards for anybody. Don’t you think Garrett Wilson is a little frustrated also, finishing with 1 catch for 8 yards against Green Bay?
“How do you win a game when you are 1-11 on third down,” asked VSIN’s Mike Lombardi after the Jets’ win over Green Bay. “The Jets had 12 drives in this game, nine of those drives had one or less first downs.”
Obviously they won the game with their running game, defense and special teams.
Aside from the strong fourth quarter in Pittsburgh, Zach Wilson probably hasn’t been connecting on enough passes since his return from a knee injury three weeks ago. And even in the Steelers game, he completed only 50 percent of his passes, going 18-36. That is a lot of balls hitting the ground, and obviously, when the ball hits the ground a lot, there are some possible completions that go by the wayside.
Moore says “he doesn’t understand either.”
But he probably does understand.
He’s not stupid.
The quarterback is struggling to see the field and with accuracy. While the Jets have won the last three games, which is impressive, aside from the fourth quarter against Pittsburgh, the quarterback really hasn’t been a huge part of the streak.
How long can the Jets win with the QB being minimalized in a QB-driven league? Hey, maybe the league is different this year. The Giants are winning doing the same thing.
But Moore knows what is going on here. The QB isn’t doing a good enough job spreading the ball around because he’s not seeing the field that well, sans the fourth quarter in Pittsburgh.
“You’d love to have perfect days where everyone is getting the football and we’re racking up 400, 500 yards a game,” Saleh said. “But right now, we’re just trying to win games by all means necessary.”
And winning now is working around the QB, who is struggling reading defenses and throwing with anticipation.
But if a player tweeted this kind of thing in New England, they would likely be inactive the next game.
Not saying that Saleh should make Moore inactive. Belichick is old-school. Players have changed. Saleh is very good at connecting with the new generation of players. The Jets play very hard for Saleh.
But guys like Moore grew up on social media, and they often have a hard time not hitting the send button to voice their frustration.
October 17, 2022
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