Through their first 11 games, the Jets have experimented with just about everything — both by choice and not by choice — to try and spark Nathaniel Hackett’s offense.
Offensive line injuries forced never-ending shuffling.
The Jets cut running back Michael Carter and promoted rookie Israel Abanikanda.
They benched Randall Cobb.
They sat Allen Lazard.
They turned to second-year tight end Jeremy Ruckert, eventually inserted 29-year-old journeyman Tim Boyle at quarterback and even moved Hackett, the offensive coordinator, from the field to the coaches’ booth.
But in the latest sample of snaps, when the Jets’ new-look unit tried to find a rhythm or anything that closely resembled one, the numbers hardly changed.
They ran 55 plays for 159 net yards Friday against the Dolphins.
The offense didn’t account for any points until a late fourth-quarter touchdown.
At this point, the only element the Jets haven’t altered centers around their play-caller.
Robert Saleh has faced questions about Hackett for weeks, a constant alongside the ones about if — or when — he’d bench Zach Wilson.
But just as Saleh’s support for Wilson didn’t waver until he had no choice, the third-year coach hasn’t changed his stance on Hackett.
He reiterated Friday that “there’s no consideration” about a play-caller change.
When asked why, Saleh said “that’s a really long answer, an answer for another day, I guess,” but he continued to defend Hackett anyway.
“When you look at it all, and again, it’s a little bit of everything, whether the calls could be better, whether the execution can be better, whether our one-on-one battles can be better,” Saleh said. “It’s taking advantage of the situations we have when we get them. Do I think play-caller will fix that? I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you on that.”
Hackett hasn’t lost the public support of his players, either.
Garrett Wilson said Hackett has done “a good job based on who we have.”