Robert Saleh downplays Elijah Moore's tweets about not being involved in Jets' offense

Robert Saleh spoke to Elijah Moore after the second-year receiver expressed confusion on social media over his lack of involvement in the offense.

Saleh tried downplaying Moore’s post about not being targeted once in the Jets’ win over the Packers on Sunday by saying he’s a competitor who wants to contribute and that his time will come.

“We’ve had a conversation,” Saleh said on a Monday Zoom call. “He’s fine. He’s a competitive young man. Like everybody, when you’re a competitor like him, he wants to contribute.

“There’s a million ways to contribute to this football team. He’s a competitor. All he wants to do is contribute. I got no problem with Elijah. He’s one of our high-character individuals, love him to death, and eventually the production part that he’s hoping for will come.”

The Jets are 4-2, and perhaps as surprising is Moore’s lack of production. He ranks fifth on the team in targets (29) and sixth in catches (16) and receiving yards (203).

More was expected of Moore after a rookie season in which he showed signs of being a versatile, dynamic playmaker who can be used in the running game as well as the passing game. He played 32 snaps on Sunday and wasn’t thrown to once.

Moore responded Sunday night to a reporter’s tweet that he wasn’t targeted. He tried to make it seem as if he wasn’t complaining, but he also “didn’t understand” why it happened.

“If I say what I really wanna say .  .  . I’ll be the selfish guy,” Moore tweeted. “We winning. Grateful! Huge blessing! All I ever wanted. Bittersweet for me, but I’ll be solid. So I’ll just stay quiet. Just know I don’t understand, either.”

Moore followed that tweet with another, saying he supports his teammates.

“I’m behind ’em like no other,” he tweeted. “Don’t get it confused, either.”

The Jets have won three games in a row for the first time since 2019, and this wasn’t the ideal time for Moore to tweet something like that. When Saleh was asked if he told the young receiver not to do that, he said he won’t admonish him for it.

“It’s social media,” Saleh said. “You’d love them all to be perfect. I’d love my family to be perfect. It’s learning lessons for everyone. I don’t think he’s got any bad intentions. I don’t think he’s got a bad bone in his body.”

A second-round pick last year, Moore led the Jets in targets (77), receiving yards (538) and total touchdowns (six) in 11 games as a rookie. He was targeted 21 times in the first three games this season, but he’s been thrown to eight times in the last three. Moore has one catch for 11 yards in the last two games.

The Jets haven’t thrown much the last two games. They’ve been playing with leads and relying on their ground game. They’ve run 66 times and Zach Wilson has thrown it only 39 the past two weeks. No Jet caught more than two passes Sunday, when Wilson completed 10 of 18 attempts.

“You’d love to have perfect days where everybody is getting the football and [we’re] racking up 400, 500 yards a game,” Saleh said. “Right now we’re just trying to win football games by all means necessary.”

The Jets have done it with a strong defense and running game. They have had seven rushing TDs the last two weeks. Breece Hall has run for 213 yards and two scores in those games.

“He’s a playmaker,” left tackle Duane Brown said. “He’s a special player.”

For the first time in a long time, the Jets have many talented skill players on offense. Saleh mentioned eight who deserve production “from a fantasy value standpoint.”

Saleh didn’t name them but they are Hall, Michael Carter, Corey Davis, Moore, Garrett Wilson, Braxton Berrios, Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is tasked with trying to get as many of them involved as possible. Saleh is confident it will work itself out.

“I know Mike is always grinding,” he said. “I don’t know if there’s a lot of guys that work a lot harder than he does in terms of trying to find ways to get everybody the football. Opportunities will come.

“They just got to continue grinding, keep the main thing the main thing, which is doing our best, finding ways to get better and contributing to the team in ways we got control over.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.