Al Iannazzone: Jets need to do a better job of getting the ball in the hands of Garrett Wilson
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson scores a touchdown during a game against the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 20, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Ed Murray
FLORHAM PARK, N.J.
Frank Reich’s playbook is filled with different formations, concepts and routes collected from more than 40 years of playing and coaching at a very high level. Somewhere in that book or on Reich’s call sheet there has to be one play that, when you remove all the numbers, letters and code words, it simply means get the ball to Garrett Wilson.
The Jets didn’t do that nearly enough in their Week 2 loss to the Packers. They can’t afford to let that happen again.
Reich, the Jets offensive coordinator, did a really good job of mixing things up in the season-opening win in Tennessee. He was praised for his balance, creativity and his use of multiple tight-end sets. Reich utilized five on one play.
It was fun and imaginative, but sometimes the call needs to be: Just get the ball to No. 5.
Wilson is the Jets’ most dynamic playmaker. Good things usually happen when the Jets put the ball in Wilson’s hands.
He was targeted seven times and had five catches against Green Bay. One was a touchdown. It came with 2:30 left in the third quarter. Wilson was targeted just twice the rest of the way in a game that the Jets lost on an overtime walk-off Packers’ field goal.
Just two targets over five series for Wilson shouldn’t happen, especially in a close game.
“Absolutely,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said when asked if the Jets need to get Wilson more involved. “That is a point of emphasis every time we go out, it’s to try to make sure we get him the ball, and we have to continue to do that.”
It has to be a main point of emphasis on Sunday when the Jets face the high-scoring Detroit Lions in Glenn’s Motown homecoming. The Jets may need to win a shoot-out. If it comes down to that, they’re not doing it without making sure Wilson is heavily involved.
Glenn spent four years as Detroit’s defensive coordinator before becoming the Jets head coach last season. He’s elevated the Jets’ defense to the No. 1 unit through the first two games this year. That will be put to the test against Detroit. Glenn got a kick out of a reporter on Wednesday saying this probably won’t be a 13-10 game. He knows as well as anyone that his old team can light up a defense and a scoreboard.
“They are explosive in every position that you can imagine when it comes to the skill players,” Glenn said.
The Lions’ defense isn’t as impressive. Detroit has allowed 35.5 points and 310.5 passing yards over the first two games. Both are the second-most in the league.
The Jets would love to dominate the line of scrimmage and time of possession and keep the ball away from Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown. The reality is, the Jets may be forced to open up the offense in Detroit. They may have no other choice but to try to exploit this Lions defense that has allowed 915 yards of offense, or 521 more than Glenn’s group.
Every week is different, but if Reich calls it right and Geno Smith, who is completing 70.8 percent of his passes, remains accurate, this could be a game in which Wilson goes off.
“He’s a big piece in our offense, and so we want to get him the ball as much as possible,” Smith said. “But we also have to do the right thing in terms of reading the defense and taking what they give us. Anytime you have a guy like Garrett you want to get him as many touches as you can. He’s a guy I look for as much as I can.”
The Jets have playmakers who need touches — Breece Hall, Adonai Mitchell, Kenyon Sadiq, Mason Taylor. Wilson needs to be one of the Jets’ bellcows. Reich called Wilson that before the season.
There’s nothing wrong with spreading the ball around and trying to prevent defenses from keying in on one player. Defenses will try to do that regardless. It’s up to the offensive coordinator to counter that and scheme ways for their best player to get open.
Glenn acknowledged there were opportunities to get Wilson the ball more against Green Bay. He also said there are ways the Jets can deploy Wilson to keep double teams off of him.
“Those are things we talk about quite a bit,” Glenn said. “Frank is well versed at that, and he’ll do a good job of that.”
The Jets’ offense is in good hands with Reich. Their offense is better when the ball is in Wilson’s hands.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
