Jets owner Woody Johnson thrilled about Mike White's emergence
Jets owner Woody Johnson is thrilled with the way Mike White has been playing. Credit: Jim McIsaac
IRVING, Texas — The energy Mike White has brought to the Jets since taking over as starting quarterback last month reaches all the way to the very top of the organization. Team owner Woody Johnson grinned broadly when asked about the impact White has had on the organization.
“I’ll tell you, the whole team is excited about him,” Johnson told Newsday on Wednesday at the NFL owners' meetings. “I think they look at him as a competent quarterback who has their back. He’s willing to take a hit. He doesn’t complain, doesn’t explain. Yeah, he’s good.”
Good enough to be the Jets’ franchise quarterback moving forward? Even with Zach Wilson, the team’s second overall pick a year ago, still on the team and serving as a backup for Sunday’s game against the Lions?
“It always depends,” Johnson said of White’s future. “You have to have a string of success.”
The Jets have been looking for such a player for nearly half a century, spending draft picks, money in free agency, and assets in trades in search of their next long-term on-field leader. White began the season as a third-stringer and is currently on a one-year deal with the Jets but Johnson would not rule out the possibility he can emerge from this season with that elusive title.
The Jets have lost their last two games, so that “string of success” is currently broken. But with four games left on their regular season schedule the Jets (7-6) can still reach the postseason for the first time since 2010. They could also finish with a losing record.
“I’d like to win every game,” Johnson said of his hopes for the next month. “That’s it. I always think we can win. It’s all about winning. Coming in second place is no fun. You have to win. That’s what we are trying to do.”
Johnson wouldn’t say anything about the playoffs but added: “Everything that (winning) entitles us to do we’ll take with a smile.”
One no doubt bigger than the one Johnson is currently wearing thanks to his quarterback.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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