Initially, he was expected to miss a game or two. Explaining the decision, coach Robert Saleh said Wilson won’t play until Week 4 “at the earliest.” The Jets face the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road that week. That means the Jets will open the season with Joe Flacco at quarterback, starting Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens — the team that drafted him in 2008 — at MetLife Stadium. 2 Related “We’re going to make sure the mind and body are 100 percent and make sure we do right by him,” Saleh said of Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in 2021. Saleh also said playing Wilson now “isn’t worth the risk. There’s the knee element. There’s the mind element. There’s the practice element. There’s a lot of other things besides the knee.” Wilson has not regressed, according to Saleh. On Monday, Saleh left open the possibility of starting Wilson, saying the sophomore quarterback “looked good” in a sideline practice that day. In reality, Wilson was never a serious option. This was just for fun. He is just 22 days removed from arthroscopic knee surgery and has yet to train with the team. At the time of the diagnosis — the injury occurred Aug. 12 in a preseason game — it was considered a two- to four-week injury, sources said. Wilson suffered a torn meniscus and bone bruises on a non-contact play, the same knee he broke last season — a four-week, non-surgical injury. Jets quarterback Joe Flacco will start Sunday’s regular season opener against the Ravens, the team he led to the Super Bowl title in the 2012 postseason. Rich Schultz/Getty Images Saleh has said multiple times that Wilson will return to the lineup once he’s healthy. He has missed 13 training sessions and two preseason games. They could have put him on short-term injured reserve, which would have ruled him out for four games, but they opted against that option because they want him to be able to practice while he recovers. He will not practice this week. Flacco hasn’t started a season opener since 2019, his first and only season with the Denver Broncos. This matchup likely has special meaning because he will be facing the team that drafted him in 2008, the team that went on to a Super Bowl title following the 2012 season. He was replaced late in the 2018 season by current Ravens starter Lamar Jackson. Flacco has lost seven straight starts, the last five with the Jets and the first two with the Broncos. His most recent win as a starter was on October 13, 2019, for the Broncos. He played well in his only start last season, throwing for 291 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Miami Dolphins. This will be Flacco’s first game against the Ravens, who traded him to Denver after the 2018 season.
