Starting New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson’s knee injury just the latest headache for Jets head coach, Northern Michigan University graduate Robert Saleh
Wilson suffered a bone bruise and torn meniscus during the Jets’ second offensive series Friday night in their preseason opener at Philadelphia.
The procedure to repair the meniscus, which will be performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache, will determine how long Wilson will be sidelined. Wilson is currently expected to be out two to four weeks based on initial tests, but there’s a chance he could be out longer depending on the condition of the knee when ElAttrache operates.
“We’re optimistic,” coach Robert Saleh said Sunday after practice. Saleh is a 2001 Northern Michigan University graduate who played football for four years with the Wildcats.
“But he’s not out of the woods until they get in there and make the decision.”
Saleh said Wilson was traveling to Los Angeles on Sunday to prepare for the procedure.
“And then,” Saleh said, “we wait.”
It was initially feared that Wilson suffered a serious — and potentially season-ending — injury when he went down as he tried to juke past the Eagles’ Nakobe Dean. He appeared to injure his knee when planting — without contact — to cut on Philadelphia’s grass field.
Tests after the game indicated the ACL was intact, and an MRI on Saturday morning revealed the bone bruise and torn meniscus.