Last week, the New York Jets got a new head coach. This week, they obtained a new receiver.
Now the Jets (2-4) need to figure out how to add victories as they enter their road showdown Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2), who are expected to pivot to Russell Wilson at starting quarterback.
New York fired coach Robert Saleh after the team’s loss against the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 6. Then, after falling 23-20 to the visiting Buffalo Bills on Monday night, the Jets acquired Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders one day later to reunite him with quarterback Aaron Rodgers from their successful run with the Green Bay Packers.
Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said Wednesday that Adams will play on Sunday when New York attempts to end a three-game slide.
“I’ll be able to roll,” Adams said. “I’m feeling good right now. I was running around today. We had a walk-through practice, and it felt good running around.”
During Adams’ past six seasons in Green Bay, he caught 581 passes for 7,192 yards and 69 touchdown receptions as Rodgers’ go-to wideout. Adams was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his last five years with the Packers.
After being traded to the Raiders, he had two more big campaigns. This season, he had 18 catches for 209 yards and one touchdown in three games for the Raiders before missing the last three with a hamstring injury.
“He infuses a lot of energy into the team right away,” Rodgers said of Adams. “He is a proven star player, he’s an asset, he’s an incredible locker room presence.”
Despite having Rodgers, the Jets average just 18.8 points per game (tied for 22nd in the NFL) and 304.3 yards per game (also 22nd). Rodgers has passed for 1,387 yards and nine touchdowns, with five interceptions.
Running back Breece Hall broke out against the Bills with 169 yards from scrimmage (113 rushing, 56 receiving) for his top outing of the season.
“In my opinion, probably the best game Breece has had here as a Jet,” Ulbrich said of the third-year pro.
The Steelers likely will turn to Wilson as the starting quarterback after the veteran took first-team practice repetitions ahead of Justin Fields this week. Wide receiver George Pickens said Friday that he has been working on getting on the same page with Wilson, “because, you know, this is his first start.”
Wilson hasn’t played this season due to a calf injury, but this was his second full week of practice.
“Now it’s about knocking the rust off,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “He did some of that last week. He is in consideration this week. We’ll see where that leads us.”
Tomlin didn’t want to discuss why Wilson received the first-team reps over Fields, who started the first six games.
However, he indicated earlier this week that Wilson wouldn’t need a lot of time to be ready to go once he’s physically cleared.
“There’s also a totality of his resume as well that makes you more comfortable than guys with shorter resumes in that regard, in terms of the ability to play ball on a limited amount of exposure,” Tomlin said of Wilson, who will be starting his 13th NFL season. “I have that mentality about guys across positions, and we’ve had that discussion before — with veteran players, that comfort that comes with experience in some of those really sometimes uncomfortable discussions.”
Fields has completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns, with one interception. He also has rushed for 231 yards and five scores.
Both players were acquired in the offseason — Wilson from the Denver Broncos and Fields from the Chicago Bears.
Wilson is no longer on Pittsburgh’s injury report, but the Steelers will be without four players Sunday: running back/return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle), tackle Dylan Cook (foot), center Zach Frazier (ankle) and linebacker Nick Herbig (hamstring). Receiver Roman Wilson (hamstring) and defensive tackle Montravius Adams (knee) are questionable.
The Jets are ailing in the secondary. Cornerback Michael Carter II (back) was ruled out, while fellow corner D.J. Reed (groin) is questionable along with linebacker Chazz Surratt (heel) and tight end Tyler Conklin (hip). In addition, safety Chuck Clark (ankle) was injured against Buffalo and placed on injured reserve.
Rodgers (ankle) missed Wednesday’s walk-through but practiced the rest of the week. Adams was a full-go as well.
New York has won three of the past four meetings between the teams.
–Field Level Media
