The Jets currently have the second-best record in the AFC at 4-2 through six games.
But not every player is happy with how the season has played out.
Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore voiced his displeasure with the number of targets he has recently received on Twitter late Sunday night in a series of tweets hours after the team’s 27-10 victory against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
“If I say what I really wanna say… I’ll be the selfish guy…we winning,” Moore said. “Grateful! Huge blessing! All I ever wanted. Bitter sweet for me em, but I’ll be solid. So I’ll just stay quiet. Just know I don’t understand either.”
On Monday afternoon, Jets coach Robert Saleh said he had had conversations with Moore regarding his role in the team’s offense.
“He’s fine, he’s a competitive young man,” Saleh said. “Like everyone, he wants to contribute.
“Sometimes, we can think that our contributions can come from production only. But your contributions can come from a variety of different things in terms of the way you show up to the building, the way you lead, the way you communicate with your teammates and the effort that you put on the field.
“There are a million ways to contribute to this football team and he’s a competitor. All he wants to do is contribute. I got no problem with Elijah, he is one of our high-character individuals. Love him to death and eventually, the production part he’s hoping for will come.”
Moore, who was selected in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, recorded 43 receptions for 538 yards and five touchdowns in 11 games last season. However, after he was expected to have a more significant impact in his second season, Moore has gotten off to a slow start in 2022.
Moore has just 16 catches for 203 yards and zero touchdowns. In Sunday’s game against the Packers, Moore was targeted zero times.
The Jets improved their receiver corps by drafting Garrett Wilson with the 10th overall pick in last April’s draft. They also signed tight ends Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah. Breece Hall, the Jets second-round pick, has also gotten a few receiving opportunities in the team’s offense.
The return of quarterback Zach Wilson has affected Moore’s production even more than expected. Joe Flacco started the first three games of the season while Wilson was recovering from a bone bruise and meniscus injuries he suffered in the preseason. Moore has just eight total targets in the three games since Wilson’s return.
The Jets have won three consecutive games and are currently on track to be one of the three AFC Wild Card teams. So as the former Raiders and NFL commentator John Madden once said, “winning is the best deodorant.”
“We have a bunch of competitors on this team,” wide receiver Braxton Berrios said. “Everybody wants to produce and help this team win. But at the end of the day, as long as we are winning, everybody is going to be alright.”
First game as a Jet emotional for Curry
Vinny Curry waited over a year to have his first game in a Jets uniform, but Sunday was well worth the wait.
On Sunday, Curry had just two tackles against the Packers, but his return to the field was a much bigger story.
Curry missed the entire 2021 season due to a rare blood disorder that resulted in an enlarged spleen that Jets doctors discovered in June 2021. This was three months after signing a one-year contract with the Jets.
Last offseason, Curry re-signed with the Jets, but he suffered a hamstring injury during training camp, so he was placed on injured reserve before the start of the season. Last week, Curry was cleared for practice and he was activated a day before the game against the Packers.
“It was emotional, but it felt great,” Curry said about his return to the field. “To be back on the field and out there with my brothers and compete, it was a blessing.
“I couldn’t even get no sleep as I was amped up. They let me talk to the defense as I was so freaking amped in there in that meeting. But it felt good to know that everyone was so happy for me and for me to be out there competing and help contribute to our win was a great feeling.”
Curry, who has played 11 seasons in the league, most of them with the Eagles, has provided leadership and more depth to a Jets defensive line that’s currently playing like one of the best units in the NFL. Against the Packers, Gang Green sacked Aaron Rodgers four times.
Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams registered two of those four sacks along with seven quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a block field goal. In six games, Williams has 22 tackles, five sacks and four tackles for loss.
“That dude works his tail off,” Curry said about Williams. “He deserves everything that’s coming his way. I’m just so happy for him.
“I told him before that he was having a Pro Bowl season, but after yesterday’s game, I think we can all agree he is having an All-Pro season. That dude ain’t even scratch the surface of what he can become.
“I honestly think there’s potential for him to be Defensive Player of the Year. He just keep doing what he’s doing, the sky’s the limit for him.”
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