A Band-Aid.
That’s what Monday night’s stirring 22-16 overtime win over the Bills in the season opener at MetLife Stadium provided for the Jets.
Temporary relief.
That’s all.
Now, the day after the Jets got to 1-0 by defeating the three-time defending AFC East champions, the reality that’s setting in is nothing sort of harsh, because that reality is life without Aaron Rodgers, the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback they acquired in the offseason that gave them legitimate Super Bowl hopes.
As Jets head coach Robert Saleh drove home from MetLife Stadium early Tuesday morning, it was probably the most sick to his stomach he’s ever been after a victory.
If Saleh sobbed on his way home or as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling pondering how his team is going to get through the next 16 games without the 10-time Pro Bowl quarterback the team pushed all of its chips to the middle of the table for an all-in run, he could be excused.
Saleh, of course, will have to remain strong, put up a strong front before his team, because no one outside of the Jets and their starved fan base gives a damn that the 39-year-old Rodgers is most likely out for the rest of the season with what appears to be a ruptured left Achilles tendon.
Life goes on. The NFL moves on. No one feels sorry for anyone at this level.
The Cowboys, whom the Jets play Sunday in Texas, surely don’t care about Rodgers being done for the season. After the (mostly) legal assault they delivered to Giants quarterback Daniel Jones on Sunday night at MetLife, the Cowboys are licking their chops to get a piece of Jets backup Zach Wilson.
Now the Jets’ season rests on the right arm of Wilson, who’s 8-14 as a starter, completes 55.6 percent of his passes and has 16 career touchdown passes to go with 19 interceptions.
Sure, Rodgers took Wilson under his wing this offseason and helped make him better than he was his first two spotty NFL seasons. But how much better is Wilson, really? Will he be a game-changer? Is he good enough to put the team on his back when needed, certainly the way Rodgers has been able to do in his brilliant career that has included multiple MVP awards?
Of course not.
The Jets’ terrific defense and some special teams magic — welcome to the NFL, Xavier Gipson — is mostly how they won Monday night’s game.
Wilson was played well enough to win, completing a modest 14-of-21 passes for 140 yards with a touchdown and an interception. But is “well enough’’ enough to be the title contender the Jets fancied themselves as with Rodgers under center?
“We still have a lot of faith in him,’’ Saleh said of Wilson. “I think we’ve proven that by keeping him here and investing in him. We’re excited for him and his opportunity. He still has a long way to go in terms of his growth. What you love about Zach is his mental makeup and how much confidence he has in himself.
“I thought (Monday) was a really good example of what we think of him and how he can play. He’s going to be great.’’
Great is a stretch, but Wilson’s teammates have noticed a better player than he was before Rodgers arrived.
“I definitely saw a different guy in Zach,’’ guard Alijah Vera-Tucker said. “He was cool, calm and collected. He really took control. It was really cool to see him evolve his game in that way. The help of Aaron Rodgers has helped. Zach came in, stepped up and helped get the W.’’
Tight end Tyler Conklin praised Wilson’s “composure and how comfortable he was in the pocket and knowing all his reads,’’ adding, “He managed the huddle really well. You can definitely see a big difference in him. You saw it all camp, with Aaron helping him with stuff and you saw it translate in practice and you saw it in the game (Monday).
“I’ve got confidence in Zach, and the big thing is he has a lot of confidence in himself right now. I’m excited to go through this season him.’’
Receiver Garrett Wilson, who made a spectacular, acrobatic catch of a Wilson fade pass for the Jets’ first touchdown of the game, which tied it at 13-13 in the fourth quarter, took notice of a different, improved Zach Wilson on Monday night. Garrett Wilson noticed it in “his confidence level and his voice in the huddle and hearing him at halftime making a statement that we’ve got to go down and win this game.’’
“There’s no excuses in this league,’’ Garrett Wilson went on. “You’re 0-1 or you’re 1-0, and he balled man. He balled in that second half. He let it loose, slinging it around. We’re excited to get to work, me and Zach. Just keep building upon this win. We plan to do better on offense.’’
They’ll have to. That starts with Zach Wilson.
“You’ve just kind of got to tell yourself to rely on the training I’ve put in this entire year, what everyone’s kind of talked about between Coach Hack (Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive coordinator) and TD (Todd Downing, the quarterbacks coach) and then Aaron, of course,’’ Wilson said. “Trust the work that we’ve put in as a team and rely on the guys around me, because they are some very talented guys and so I think that was the focus for me.’’
Asked what his focus becomes now that he knows he’s back to being the long-term starter, Wilson said, “I’ve just got to keep getting better. Trust my feet, trust my coaches, trust the guys around me, rely on this defense that we have, and progressively just rely on everything I feel like I’ve done throughout training camp and preseason as well and just do my best to keep improving as a player.’’
When you peel away the horrible reality of the Rodgers injury, Monday night was special for the Jets. They showed resolve. Their defense backed up its belief that it should be one of the best units in the league. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and it provided as much of a home-field edge as can be remembered in recent memory.
But the euphoria of victory lasts only so long. It’s like a good buzz or a pain killer that eventually wears off.
It gets tougher from here, without Rodgers. The Band-Aid gets ripped off the wound Sunday at Dallas.