Why is Joe Flacco not playing today vs. Jaguars on TNF?
New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco stayed on the sidelines as Zach Wilson was benched midgame against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead, fourth-choice Chris Streveler took over the reins to close out the game.
Now, it was no surprise to see Zach Wilson benched. He had led them to just three points in the first half, having thrown for less than 100 yards and thrown no touchdowns but one interception. Mike White, who was made the starter at the end of November, was also unavailable because he was out with a rib injury. It was only because of this that Wilson started at all.
But it was quite a surprise to see Streveler take over because Joe Flacco is ahead of him on the depth chart. Instead, he never got on the field, and he looked none too pleased.
Joe Flacco looks like he’d rather be in Guantanamo Bay than on the sidelines tonight
Is Joe Flacco injured?
Joe Flacco remained on the bench. We are not aware of any injury reports on him. But just as Robert Saleh initially opted for Mike White after benching Zach Wilson after the Patriots game, he again opted for Chris Streveler for this game.
It is now twice that he has passed up the chance to bring in the former Baltimore Ravens quarterback after benching Wilson. The Jets seem to see him as a benchwarmer at the moment. With just three points on the board and there looking to be no chance of them coming back in this game, it might have been better to give the young players a chance.
We will keep an eye out for future games as well to see if the situation changes. There are going to be a lot of questions for Robert Saleh after the 19-3 loss at home. He will now try to get Mike White fit first, so all the awkward questions can be avoided.
However, if White does not make it back, then it will be up to Saleh to decide if he sticks with Streveler or brings back Joe Flacco. Streveler played much better than Wilson and would like to think he deserves a chance. But the counterpoint is that Flacco is an experienced former Super Bowl MVP. As well as Streveler played, he did not lead the Jets to any additional points during the game.
Zach Wilson may have played his last down as a Jet. Even with the season over after tonight, you can't put him back out there or you'll risk losing the team. So it'll be Chris Streveler, or Mike White or Joe Flacco or Browning Nagle.
The Jets seem to have the ultimate quarterback carousel going on over in New York. It will be fascinating to see if Joe Flacco can get on with it in the coming weeks to close out a season that he started.