Jets’ Wilson plans to ‘rock’ despite elbow injury

Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff WriterNov 17, 2023, 03:28 PM ET
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New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson might not throw another pass any time soon, but his injured right elbow won’t stop him from facing the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.

“It’s doing better,” Wilson told reporters Friday after practice. “I’m feeling good, so we’re going to rock this weekend.”

But he won’t be rocking at full strength. Wilson admitted the injury will limit him.

“Yeah, but we’ll get it done,” said Wilson, who is listed as questionable after practicing on a limited basis all week.

Wilson suffered the injury in last week’s 16-12 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, but he returned to the game and finished with nine catches for 93 yards.

Curiously, Wilson was called upon to execute a trick play — a wide receiver pass — even after he received medical attention for his elbow. He threw a wobbly, off-target pass out of bounds, missing an open Allen Lazard. Wilson admitted the injury affected his throw.

“I’m not going to fake it,” he said, smiling. “I wish I could’ve thrown that thing because that was a touchdown.”

This is a pivotal game for the Jets (4-5), who have dropped two straight, and they absolutely need Wilson on the field. He leads the team with 55 catches for 642 yards and two touchdowns and has accounted for 35% of their receiving yardage.

Wilson and running back Breece Hall (three) are the only Jets players with more than one touchdown this season. As a team, the Jets have only eight, a league low.

Before practice, coach Robert Saleh was noncommittal on Wilson’s availability for Sunday, saying “everything is positive” but that “there are a couple of hurdles he has to clear.”

“He’s been awesome and he’s working through it, and there’s just some things that there’s not 100 percent comfort with,” Saleh said. “Again, he’s been working his tail off trying to get this done and trying to alleviate himself of all the different pain that he’s having, but we’ll continue to work with him and see.”

Wilson, the 2022 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, played a pivotal role behind the scenes this week. He was one of the driving forces behind a players-only meeting for the struggling offense.

“It was good to see us talking to each other,” he said. “I feel like it gives you a sense of confidence to hold guys accountable to those things that we talked about in that players meeting. The same for me; they’re holding me accountable for everything I talked about. And that’s how it should be.”