National Football League

'I plead the fifth:' Robert Saleh has no answer for questions about benching Zach Wilson

Updated Nov. 9, 2023 5:46 p.m. ET

The latest edition of "Monday Night Football" was as lopsided as they come.

One side — the Los Angeles Chargers — played the quintessential brand of complementary football. They were lightning on offense, as Keenan Allen pulled off perhaps the catch of the year, while Austin Ekeler scored two TDs.

The New York Jets, meanwhile, were sloppy at best, giving up three fumbles and failing to put a TD on the board. Much of their struggles began with quarterback Zach Wilson, who, despite completing 33 passes for 263 yards, came up small in the moments that mattered most.

Wilson is now 3-4 in games he's started and finished, and he has shown little evidence that he can be the man to lead a talented Jets troupe to the playoffs. So why not explore other options at QB, namely Trevor Siemian, who's won more career games than Wilson?

It's a question Robert Saleh has no answer for.

"I don't know," Saleh said shakily when Michael Kay asked him why he wouldn't bench Wilson. "You got — it's something I'm gonna plead the fifth on all this one. … They're valid questions, and I know from fans who are passionate all having the same question, I respect it greatly. But I've got to look at it from a global standpoint, and just see where we are, and look at the all-22 the best I can, and make the decision best as possible."

The answer was undoubtedly dismaying to Jets fans, especially given that Saleh acknowledged the validity in their concerns. But he was sure to emphasize that New York had a team problem, not a Wilson one.

"It's easy… the three people who get drilled in losses is the quarterback, the playcaller and head coach," he said.

Robert Saleh on not benching Zach Wilson: 'I'm going to plead the fifth'

"That's natural territory. It's our job to go back and look at the tape and figure out the actual reasons why, the all-22 that says everything. And that's why I think you see some analysts turn on the tape and are like ‘well, jeez, the kid really didn’t play that bad.' And you turn on the tape, and are there things that Zach needed to do better yesterday? One hundred percent. He knows it, we know it, everyone knows it. But are there areas on the field where we could've been better for him as a playcaller? Sure. Are there areas on the field where we could've been better as position coaches? … Yes. Could the players have been better from an execution standpoint? … Absolutely.

"Sometimes it's very obvious when you turn on the all-22 that the quarterback is just incapable, but that's not the case here. And there are so many things that everybody needs to get better at, including the quarterback."

Everyone does need to get better if the Jets are going to have any shot at the goals they set for themselves before the season. And though Aaron Rodgers has looked good since his Achilles surgery and voiced his intentions to return for the playoffs, it's Wilson who will have to get them there.

And it's Wilson whom Saleh has put his trust in to do so.

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