Jets hope Tim Boyle can have his own 'Mike White Moment'

The Jets’ season has gone terribly wrong and they’re turning to a mostly unheralded quarterback to fix things.

If this sounds familiar, it’s similar to what happened last year when the Jets benched Zach Wilson and gave Mike White the keys to the offense. Now White will be at MetLife Stadium on Friday, when the Jets hope that going from Wilson to Tim Boyle can produce another Mike White Moment.

The Jets are Boyle’s team now. They’re entrusting him to lead the offense — and essentially try to save their season — when they host the division-leading Miami Dolphins (7-3) in the NFL’s first Black Friday game.

It will be 691 days since the 29-year-old Boyle started an NFL game. His last one was Jan. 2, 2022, for Detroit. Boyle is 0-3 as a starter and has thrown three touchdown passes and nine interceptions in 18 games with the Packers, Lions, Bears and Jets, but he is brimming with confidence and belief in himself.

“You got to feel like you’re dangerous out there,” Boyle said. “You can’t go into a play or a series thinking with any doubt. Confidence is critical going in there and feeling like I’m the guy and I’m not going to miss. That’s kind of the focus.”

The Jets (4-6) have lost three straight and are desperate for a win that would help keep alive the hope that Aaron Rodgers will return.

Rodgers is rehabbing from a torn left Achilles and is targeting a return in late December. The Jets might need to be in the playoff race for that to happen. They’re tied for 13th in the AFC.

It’s up to you, Tim.

“I don’t have to be Superman out there,” Boyle said. “Just run the offense, take the completions they give me and just play within my game.”

That was White’s approach the two times he replaced Wilson. The first was in 2021 because of injury. White had a historic first NFL start in a win over Cincinnati, passing for 405 yards and three touchdowns (no one had ever thrown for 400 yards and three TDs in his debut before that). Last season, White came in for Wilson in Week 12 and threw for 315 yards and three scores to beat Chicago.

It’s a little different situation now. Wilson was hurting the team last season with his play and attitude, and the locker room turned against him. He’s matured, but his play hasn’t improved enough. Although the struggles are widespread, the Jets had to do something to jump-start their unsightly and unimaginably bad offense.

The Jets have scored one touchdown in their last three games and have a league-low nine all season. Trevor Siemian will be Boyle’s backup and Wilson will be the Jets’ No. 3/emergency quarterback.

“You feel for Zach but you’re also trying to give someone an opportunity,” tight end Tyler Conklin told Newsday. “I’m excited for Tim to get an opportunity. Hopefully, it’s the spark that we need as an offense.”

Robert Saleh said, “One person won’t change everything” and that everyone needs to be better.

“We all have to take part and try to find ways to get the offense to move,” Saleh said. “I know the guys will go out there and play their butts off, and we’ll see what happens.”

The Jets will be challenged on defense against the extremely talented and fast Dolphins.

Tua Tagovailoa is second in the NFL with 21 touchdown passes. Running back Raheem Mostert is second with 13 total touchdowns. Tyreek Hill leads receivers in yards (1,222) and touchdowns (nine).

“They got a style that shines every time they touch the grass,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “We’re going to have to play really, really well.”

No doubt. The Jets also will need the offense to play better than it has all season. The Dolphins average 30.5 points per game, so the Jets need to score.

They have belief in Boyle, stemming from his knowledge of the system and his preparation. This is Boyle’s third year playing in Nathaniel Hackett’s offense.

Receiver Garrett Wilson said Boyle “knows the playbook like no one else. He truly knows every single detail.”

That allows Boyle to get the ball out quickly and avoid sacks, which is critical playing behind the Jets’ banged-up offensive line.

Wilson, who holds on to the ball too long, was sacked 15 times in the last three games. Boyle has been sacked only twice in 120 career pass attempts (one came Sunday after he replaced Wilson in the third quarter against the Bills).

Boyle said this week that he wasn’t “confident enough” and didn’t have that “dangerous feeling” the last time he started a game.

All the work and studying he’s done since then has him believing he’s a different quarterback now.

“I’m not someone who’s going to be shell-shocked by the moment,” Boyle said. “I am excited to go out there against a really good defense and show what I can do.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.