After coming in for Zach Wilson in the second half of Sunday's defeat at Buffalo, Tim Boyle will be the Jets' starting quarterback Friday against the Miami Dolphins.
"Just giving him an opportunity," said head coach Robert Saleh on a Zoom call on Monday afternoon. "Different style of quarterback, so really it’s just to give him an opportunity to see if we can do something with the offense."
Wilson's future with New York is now in doubt as SNY NFL Insider Connor Hughes reported earlier on Monday that the Jets releasing the former No. 2 overall draft pick and allowing him to start anew elsewhere is not out of the question.
However, Saleh put an end to any speculations about the young quarterback's immediate future saying, "We'll deal with it in the offseason."
In the 32-6 defeat to the Bills, Wilson completed just 7 of 15 attempts for 81 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The 24-year-old did not complete a pass to a wide receiver before head coach Robert Saleh benched him late in the third quarter.
"It's frustrating, but I get it," Wilson said Sunday after his mid-game benching. "When things aren’t getting done, changes have to be made, I understand that. You have to score, you have to be in games. When it’s consecutive weeks of just doing nothing on offense, it can’t happen.
"The offense as a whole is an issue. We need to find a way to get better and take accountability, and that starts with me."
Boyle completed half of his 14 attempts in relief for 33 yards and an interception. The 29-year-old, who went undrafted in 2018 after a collegiate career that began at UConn and ended at Eastern Kentucky, will be making just his fourth career start when facing Miami. His previous starts came with the Detroit Lions in 2021.
As for who will be backing up Boyle on Friday, Saleh said Trevor Siemian will serve in that role but mentioned that Wilson will also be active for the game, giving the Jets three quarterbacks on the roster.
Boyle has a career 60.8 completion percentage on 120 attempts for a 5.1 yards per attempt average. The career backup has a 50.9 career passer rating in 18 games over five seasons with four different teams.
Wilson had started every game since Aaron Rodgers' injury in the season opener. The Jets' record is 4-6, and they have lost three straight games. Wilson was benched twice last season after he missed the first three games of the regular season due to an injury sustained in the preseason.
In 10 games during his third season, Wilson completed 190 of 321 attempts (59.2 percent) for 1,944 yards (6.1 yards per attempt) and six touchdowns with seven interceptions.
In 32 games (31 starts) since New York took him with the second pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of BYU, he has completed just 56.6 percent of his passes with a 6.3 yards per attempt average and thrown 21 touchdowns to 25 interceptions.
The Jets have an 11-20 record in games he has started.
