Garrett Wilson plans to play vs. Bills on Sunday
Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs, left, breaks up a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Credit: AP/David Becker
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Garrett Wilson said he expects to be active against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon but acknowledged that his ailing right elbow likely will impact him in some way.
The wide receiver, one of the Jets’ biggest scoring threats, temporarily exited Sunday’s loss against the Raiders, was limited in practice Friday and is officially listed as questionable.
Coach Robert Saleh said the team is “optimistic” about his return. Wilson was unequivocal.
“It’s doing better now,” he said. “I’m feeling good. We’re going to rock this weekend . . . Yeah [the elbow will affect me], but we’ll get it done.”
Saleh was a little more cautious.
“He feels good, he’s speaking the right language,” he said. “Everything is positive. Like I said, he’s just got to go through a couple of hurdles.”
Wilson added that his elbow affected the incomplete pass he threw in the fourth quarter Sunday, a trick play that could have tied the score. “I’m not going to fake it,” he said. “I wish I could’ve thrown that thing because it was a touchdown.”
An injured Wilson, though, is better than no Wilson, especially as the Jets (4-5) look for their first touchdown in 11 quarters and an overtime. They’re riding a two-game losing streak and a loss to the Bills could smother their precarious playoff hopes.
Wilson, last year’s NFL offensive rookie of the year, has a team-high 55 catches for 642 yards and two touchdowns, including one against the Bills in the Jets’ Week 1 win.
The Jets have managed to rely on their NFL-best defense (according to Pro Football Focus) to stay afloat, but the offense is last in the league in third-down conversions and fourth-worst in total yards per game and is averaging only 16 points (30th in the NFL). It was enough for them to call a players-only meeting Tuesday, which Breece Hall said was helpful in the limited way that team meetings often are.
“It was good and everything, but at the end of the day, you can say whatever you want, but everybody’s got to come out and do their job,” Hall said. “You can say all the words and have all the encouragement and whatever the case may be, but you’ve got to do the job.”
Wilson said there’s still a strong internal belief that this could be a playoff team.
“We’ve got to be better,” he said. “We think that we have a great opportunity, we really do. We know a lot of people fell off the [band] wagon, as they should have, but that’s all right, but we’re ready to take that step. We’ve just got to go do it.”
Saleh concurred, adding that there was “juice” in Thursday’s practice.
It “was phenomenal and there’s a lot of energy,” he said. “There’s a lot of good, positive talk. Meeting rooms are alive where people are communicating, asking questions and speaking. It’s not just a bunch of zombies walking around, which can happen, but I like where we’re at and the mindset, the juice, the energy, and I don’t think it’s because they see blood in the water. I think it’s because they’re excited to go play football and attack this moment.”
Injury updates. OL Billy Turner (finger), LB Chazz Surratt (ankle), and LB Sam Eguavoen (hip) are out Sunday. OL Duane Brown (hip) and TE Kenny Yeboah (hamstring) won’t be activated off the injured reserve despite being eligible.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
