As 2022 season ends, Jets faced with more questions than answers

The Jets’ once-promising season will end on Sunday and in familiar fashion.

There will be no playoffs for the 12th consecutive year and the Jets will post a seventh straight losing record. There could be changes on the coaching staff and perhaps the front office. Oh, and they still need a quarterback.

The Jets looked as if they finally were going to change the “Same Old Jets” narrative this season. They got off to a 7-4 start but have not won since. They’ve dropped five straight, their offense is in shambles and their top-five defense has sprung too many leaks.

“We earned a spot to be where we were,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said, “and we earned a spot to be where we are now.”

This group — starting with general manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh — has tried to distance itself from the ugliness of the franchise’s history and write its own story. The last seven weeks, though, have epitomized that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Jets (7-9) have lost six of their last seven games, some in head-shaking ways. In other games, they just didn’t look prepared to play. Sunday’s game at Miami adds another twist to this dizzying and sorry end of the season.

Joe Flacco will be the Jets’ starting quarterback. Not Mike White. His fractured ribs are too painful for him to play. Not Zach Wilson. The No. 2 overall pick last year will be the backup. Saleh feels Wilson needs to focus on getting his mind and fundamentals right to come back better prepared next season.

“For Zach,” Saleh said, “it’s all about ’23.”

The Jets’ quarterback situation truly has been a mess, a revolving door with injuries, hopefulness, hopelessness, frustration, disappointment and just bad play.

Wilson started nine games and was benched twice. White started four games. Flacco will get his fourth start Sunday. If Flacco throws two touchdown passes against Miami, he will lead the Jets with seven. Wilson has six.

That stat sums up the Jets’ season and why changes are expected. The quarterback room certainly will look different. The Jets could try to trade for Derek Carr or Aaron Rodgers or sign Jimmy Garoppolo or Lamar Jackson.

For now, though, they want to snap their losing streak, end the season on a positive note and maybe take some of the heat off anyone on the hot seat. Maybe.

If they wind up with six straight losses, owner Woody Johnson — who can’t be happy with what he’s seen lately — could decide to let go of some people. He already may have made those decisions.

People could pay for the bungling of Wilson’s situation. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur and quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese seem to be directly in the line of fire. But Douglas drafted Wilson and Saleh has overseen and approved everything involving Wilson.

Douglas and Saleh, however, have done enough to earn another season. They have brought in a number of talented, cornerstone-type players and  are moving in a positive direction.

The 8-8 Dolphins, who are still in the playoff race, are in a similar position. They also have dropped five in a row and will start third-string quarterback Skyler Thompson.

Flacco will be playing behind an offensive line missing tackles Duane Brown and George Fant and right guard Nate Herbig. The Jets will start their ninth different offensive line combination.

The ending to the season clouds a year in which the Jets showed progress and created some reasons for optimism.

“We’ve truly become a team, not just a collection of players,” defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said. “It’s going to be beautiful watching this thing.”

The Jets’ young players — particularly rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner and receiver Garrett Wilson — had impressive seasons. Injuries derailed what could have been special years for rookie running back Breece Hall and second-year offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker. Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams had a breakout season and cornerback D.J. Reed, a free-agent pickup, had a huge impact on the defense.

“It was fun to be relevant late,” Mosley said. “Even though we didn’t do the things that we needed to do this past month, we can look back now and going into the offseason and be like we really built something. A year from now, a couple of years from now, this same group of young guys that went through this stretch with all the wins and then not finding a way to win at the end, that’s only going to make them better in the long run.”

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.