Mike White takes a beating in Jets' loss to Bills
Jets quarterback Mike White receives assistance following a play in the first half of an NFL game against the Bills on Sunday in Orchard Park, N.Y. Credit: AP/Jeffrey T. Barnes
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Mike White kept getting drilled and kept getting back up. He left the game twice after crushing hits and returned each time — but he couldn’t lead a Jets comeback Sunday.
The Jets lost to the Bills, 20-12, on a rainy and windy afternoon at Highmark Stadium. After the game, White was taken to an area hospital to get his ribs checked (Robert Saleh said it was precautionary). White then flew home with the Jets.
Although the Jets have lost two in a row for the first time this season, their coach made a bold statement.
“We’re going to see these guys again,” Saleh said.
That’s the first time he has publicly said he expects the Jets (7-6) to be a playoff team. To see the Bills again, the Jets would have to reach the postseason because they already have split the season series.
“I think our team is good enough,” Saleh said. “It’s week-to-week, but we got a good football team.”
The Jets have shown that. They lost a one-score game to Minnesota last week and another one to Buffalo.
After trailing by 13 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Jets came within a touchdown and two-point conversion on their final drive of tying it. That hope ended when White’s fourth-down pass was incomplete with 26 seconds left.
The Bills (10-3) remain the AFC’s top seed. With four games left, the Chargers (7-6) moved ahead of the Jets for the third and final wild-card spot based on a tiebreaker.
“Nothing’s guaranteed, but I just got so much faith in that locker room,” Saleh said. “I think they feel the same way. I don’t think there’s a guy in that locker room that doesn’t think we’re capable of so much more.
“Buffalo, they’re a damn good football team and a Super Bowl contender. But we’re a young team and we’re an exciting team.”
The most pressing concerns are the health of White and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who left with a calf injury in the second quarter. All of the Bills’ points came after that.
Saleh said Williams is day-to-day and will be evaluated at home. After the beating White took, he needed to be examined before flying home.
White left the game for two plays after getting drilled in the chest in the first half. He went to the locker room after a hard hit to his ribs by Matt Milano in the third quarter, had X-rays and was cleared, returning for the start of the fourth.
The gutsy White finished 27-for-44 for 268 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked three times and took seven hits. Saleh said he will start next week against Detroit if he’s OK.
The respect the Jets’ players had for White only grew in this game.
“He got a lot of heart,” receiver Garrett Wilson said. “He’s going to lay it on the line for his boys. I would do the same for him.”
C.J. Mosley said, “Everybody respects the heck out of him. He showed his perseverance and he showed his love for his teammates and his coaches. He risked himself and risked his body. We all know what type of player he is. That’s a credit to him.”
Jets rookie running back Zonovan Knight carried the ball 17 times for 71 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was held to 147 yards passing but threw for one touchdown and ran for another.
The Jets played a really sloppy game on this sloppy day, and for the second week in a row, they felt they let one get away.
They fumbled twice, including a critical giveaway by running back Michael Carter in the fourth quarter at the Bills’ 23 with the Jets trailing 20-9.
The Jets also had a huge mental mistake by the usually cerebral Mosley. On fourth-and-1, he jumped over the Bills’ offensive line and was flagged for encroachment, helping to set up Buffalo’s first touchdown.
Yet the Jets still had a chance at the end with White running the offense. Trailing 20-9, he led the Jets into the red zone but threw incomplete on third-and-1 from the 9. Saleh opted to kick and Greg Zuerlein’s 26-yarder with 1:21 left made it a one-score game.
The Jets had all their timeouts left so they decided not to try an onside kick. The Bills surprisingly threw on first down, but Mosley broke up the pass to Dawson Knox and the defense forced a three-and-out.
The Jets started their final drive at their own 21 with 46 seconds left and one timeout remaining. White threw incomplete on all four downs, though, and he was out of comebacks.
The Jets didn’t sound defeated afterward, only buoyed by the playoff talk that came from Saleh.
“We’ve had heavyweight battles the last two weeks,” center Connor McGovern said. “We have four more and we’re ready to go toe-to-toe and do what it takes. We always got laughed at the first two years, but this is the hardest-practicing, hardest-working team I’ve ever been on, and it shows. It’s been what we’ve been building. There is no quit in this team.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
