Jets Q&A: Where did THAT touchdown come from?

Where did the fourth-down touchdown pass to Conor McDermott come from?

The Jets have had it in the game plan for at least the last month, acting coach Ron Middleton said. They ran the play in practice for Dan Feeney the past few weeks. But with the illnesses on the offensive line, Feeney started Sunday.

They worked with offensive tackle McDermott in practice this past week, but Zach Wilson didn’t think they would run it. Then, on fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter, McDermott reported in as eligible.

Wilson scrambled away from the rush and his reads were all covered. McDermott ran a nice route and was all alone in the end zone. He waved for the ball and Wilson hit him for the touchdown.

"The funny part was we put the play in in practice and the O-line gives me crap for never throwing it to them," Wilson said. "I threw it to Derm two times in practice just joking around, ‘Hey, that’d be funny if he caught it,’ whatever. It’s not even part of the read. So I go through one, two, three, pressure comes up the middle, I escaped to the right, and I just see this big dude with his hands in the air in the back of the end zone with nobody around him.

"I’m just like, ‘Oh, my gosh, should I throw it to him? Is this happening? This is exactly what we talked about; what happens if I scramble and he’s open?’ The dude made an awesome catch coming down with it."

How did everyone else react to the play?

Middleton said Feeney had been begging to have that play called in the game. Middleton also said McDermott, a former tight end in high school, asked what kind of release he should take.

"Like, ‘Get away from me. We’re not getting you the ball,’ " Middleton said. "We ran this play twice in practice this week and Zach threw it to him both times and he looked very natural catching the ball. He made a hell of a catch. I was so happy for him."

C.J. Mosley said it was "an amazing play" by Wilson and "an even better play" by McDermott.

By the way, McDermott said he ran an easy release.

"I realized running the route, that there was no one on me," he said. "Then Zach and I made eye contact last second. I was like, ‘Throw it!’ "

Did Robert Saleh take part in the postgame celebration?

Yes, he did. While the team was in the locker room and Middleton was being presented the game ball, Saleh, who is in quarantine at a hotel, Zoomed in to join the happy room.

"That was awesome," Mosley said. "He popped up on the screen, happy, excited, turnt up, all the words you want to use. It was fun to still see his passion for his guys. We’re all in this position because of him and we all believe in him."