What happened to Greg Knapp? New York Jets coach in critical condition following accident
New York Jets passing game specialist Greg Knapp is currently in critical condition. According to Mike Klis of 9 News, Knapp was hospitalized after suffering serious injuries during a bike accident in California. He was riding his bike when he was hit by a car.
According to Total Pro Sports, the 58-year-old specialist played in the NFL for seven years as a quarterback for the 49ers, Chiefs, and Raiders.
He signed on as the offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers from 2001-2003. In 2004, Knapp became the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons. He coached the team throughout the 2006 season.
In 2007, Knapp joined the Oakland Raiders in the same capacity. After the 2008 season, Knapp spent a year as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.
Three years later, Knapp spent one season as the offensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders.
After his time as offensive coordinator, Knapp stepped back to being a quarterbacks coach for various teams. He worked as the Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach from 2013-2016, then spent a year out of the league and landed with the Atlanta Falcons as a quarterbacks coach.
This season, he was expected to be the passing game specialist for the New York Jets.
How Knapp's absence affects the New York Jets
The loss of Knapp for the 2021 season at this stage sets up poorly for rookie Zach Wilson, who's already coming in without a mentor and with a rookie head coach in Robert Saleh. Overall, the team is very young and will need to learn on their own on the fly.
With the loss of Knapp, the Jets will need to find an interim passing game coordinator quickly. This late in the season, all of the best candidates have already been taken. With training camp starting for the New York Jets rookies today, July 20, Zach Wilson will show up in a chaotic situation as the Jets scramble to find a replacement.
Early in his career, the quarterbacks coach will be one of the biggest sources of information who will form his perception of the NFL. Lessons taught by the quarterbacks coach will form the basis of Zach Wilson's NFL game. If those lessons are less than stellar as a result of the Jets' misfortune, the implications of this development could affect Zach Wilson's career going forward.