New York Jets

Jets WR Elijah Moore’s breakout isn’t happening. He’s not happy about it

Updated Oct. 19, 2022 4:58 p.m. ET

By Henry McKenna
FOX Sports AFC East Writer

With Zach Wilson healthy and back in the New York Jets' starting lineup, the team can finally focus on how to build an offense around him that can win. The good news is that Wilson is 3-0 this year. The bad news, at least for one Jet, is that the offense is featuring receiver Elijah Moore less and less — and he's not happy about it.

Since Wilson's return against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jets have progressively declined their usage of Moore to the point where he ended the team's Week 6 win over the Green Bay Packers with zero targets. That didn't seem to sit well. He tweeted a response, which he has since deleted.

"If I say what I really wanna say … I'll be the selfish guy … we winning. Grateful! Huge blessing! All I ever wanted. [Bitter] sweet for me em but I'll be solid. So I'll just stay quiet. Just know I don't understand either," Moore wrote on Sunday postgame.

Here's a quick look at what's happened to Moore in the past three weeks from a counting stats standpoint.

Week 4: four targets, three catches, 53 yards, 90% of offensive snaps
Week 5: four targets, one catch, 11 yards, 66% of offensive snaps
Week 6: zero targets, 58% of offensive snaps

Moore is generating a respectable 2.9 yards of separation per target, equal to productive receivers like his teammate Garrett Wilson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jaylen Waddle, Chris Godwin and Noah Brown. It's just that Moore isn't getting the target total he expected. While leading the team in snaps on passing plays (236), he has just 16 catches for 203 yards and no touchdowns. His average depth of target is 14.4 yards, second on the team. But his yards per route run is .91, which is eighth-best on the team.

So you can see why Moore is upset — and why he is tweeting about not talking about it, thereby talking about it. Anyone else feeling confused?

Last year, Moore seemed like a breakout candidate. (I even wrote about how good he looked in training camp, with Joe Flacco comparing the young receiver to Steve Smith.) There was plenty of buzz. But that has since died. Moore looks like the odd man out — WR3 behind Garrett Wilson and Corey Davis — in an offense that doesn't pass the ball often.

"We've had conversations. He's fine," Jets coach Robert Saleh said of Moore's tweet. "He's a competitive young man. Like everybody, when you're a competitor like him, he wants to contribute. Sometimes, we can think that our contributions are from production only, when your contributions can come from a variety of different things in terms of the way you show up to the building, the way you lead, the way you communicate with your teammates, the effort that you put on the field. There's a million ways you can contribute to this football team. He's a competitor and all he wants to do is contribute.

"So, I've got no problem with Elijah. He's one of our high-character individuals. I love him to death. Eventually, the production part of it that he's hoping for will come. He's just continuing to work."

Saleh said everything right in an attempt to put out the flames on what could be an awkward situation. And Saleh better hope that his sales pitch about contributing without producing was effective, because it's hard to see the team suddenly getting Moore involved on a more consistent basis.

Perhaps not coincidentally, as Moore's offensive snaps have decreased, Braxton Berrios has seen a steady increase from 11% in Week 4 to 22% in Week 5 to 29% in Week 6.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about on Twittter, for one," Berrios said when asked about Moore's tweet. "But I will say that we have a bunch of competitors on this team and obviously everyone wants to produce and help this team, but at the end of the day as long as we're winning, everyone's going to be alright."

Against the Packers, Moore appeared to be the primary option on just one passing play. For the rest of the game, Zach Wilson was staring down his other playmakers. So far as I can tell, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur drew up plays to get the ball to folks not named Moore. Garrett Wilson seems like the player the Jets want to turn into their WR1. Corey Davis is the player Zach Wilson seems to trust most. And because the quarterback's development looks slow, the Jets want to run the ball with Breece Hall and Michael Carter as much as they can, particularly when they have the lead.

That leaves Moore as the odd man out. He's often the third or fourth option on any given passing play. So far, Wilson isn't the kind of quarterback who gets to his third or fourth option.

Moore did actually get one target, a play wiped away by a chop block by the offensive line. Wilson targeted Moore on a go-route near the left sideline. But the receiver didn't win the matchup, with cornerback Eric Stokes playing him to perfection in coverage. There was nowhere for Wilson to throw, but the quarterback uncorked it anyway. The ball fell incomplete.

If Moore stays patient and the offense evolves, he might find that Wilson develops into the type of quarterback that can support production for three receivers. Right now, Wilson and the Jets offense are not there yet, and Moore is pretty buried on the depth chart.

If Moore is going to have any fun this year, he might need to change his mentality, especially if the Jets keep winning.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.