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Just give Garrett the damn ball.
That has been the theme around the Jets this week as they prepare to face a winless Dolphins team at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Star receiver Garrett Wilson was visibly frustrated last week in New England when he received just two targets in the first three quarters and six overall. The Jets coaches this week acknowledged they have to find a way to get him involved in the offense early and often.
“Garrett is the ultimate team player and the ultimate pro,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said. “I’ve seen that from Day 1, and in his moments of frustration, and I’m not down on the sidelines so I don’t see all of them, but I hear about them, I hear about them. I understand that’s just, he’s a fiery competitor and he knows he’s a playmaker, and we do too. And Garrett’s been great to work with.”
It is not like Wilson has been invisible in the offense this year. He leads the AFC with 35 receptions, and his 48 targets are second in the AFC and 15th in the NFL. It is more how those targets are distributed. There are long periods in games when Wilson seems to be forgotten.
Reich said this week that head coach Aaron Glenn will remind him to get the ball to Wilson during games.
“A.G. is always in my ear if Garrett hasn’t gotten the ball for a little bit,” Reich said. “He’s, ‘Hey, don’t forget. Boom, get our playmakers the ball,’ that kind of thing, which is good. We’re trying to get to him as early and as often as we can. Now, in years of experience, I know it doesn’t always go that way, and some of that I’m comfortable with, some of it I’m not. But for the most part, Garrett, every week I feel like this guy is unbelievable. He’s an unbelievable player, so we need to get him the ball.”
The offense has more issues than just a lack of targets for Wilson. It has struggled in situational football all year. The Jets are bad at two-minute offense, converting on third down and scoring in the red zone. They have just four touchdowns in their past three games.
Targeting Wilson more won’t solve all of those issues, but it could help jump-start this offense.
“You have that confidence to be productive when you’re called upon again, and then just kind of showing, reminding everyone that this is why I’m at this point,” Wilson said. “And it sounds stupid because it’s like a reminder, but everyone is good, obviously, at this point, but it’s real now. Your teammates feel that, your coaches feel that, and they think they can call upon you again.
“And for me, it’s kind of just getting my feet wet early and then, you know, let’s ride.”
The Jets will have receiver Adonai Mitchell back this week after he missed the past four games with a finger injury. It will be the first time quarterback Geno Smith has his full complement of receivers and tight ends since the first series of their Week 1 win over the Titans.
This is the middle of what feels like a key stretch in the schedule. At 2-4, the Jets season can spiral away quickly if they don’t win this one.
The 0-5 Dolphins have not had a lead this season, and they are very young. Their record could be a little deceiving though, because three of their five losses have come against the three remaining undefeated teams — the 49ers, Chiefs and Vikings. They have not been losing to bad teams, and the Jets know they are not good enough to overlook anyone.
“I don’t think we’re in a position to be looking at anybody’s record,” veteran linebacker Demario Davis said. “We’re worried about going 1-0 every time we step out there. That’s got to be our mindset. It’s not like we’ve got all Ws and no losses where we can feel really good about our record versus a winless team. It’s not like that. We’ve got to be ready to put our best on display every time we step out on the field.”