Zach Wilson To Have Knee Surgery, Could Potentially Miss Season Opener

The 2022 NFL season has not formally started yet and the New York Jets already hit their first stumbling block after quarterback Zach Wilson suffered a bone bruise in his knee plus a torn meniscus.

The second-year play-caller is expected to miss two to four weeks at best, but the tricky situation of repairing his meniscus and rehabilitation for on-field work may put him on the shelf for much longer.

If things do not go according to plan for Wilson, a Week 1 debut on September 11 against the Baltimore Ravens may not happen after having such a promising rookie year.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh could not help but lament Wilson's missed opportunities for practice time in order to hasten his development as he told reporters on Sunday, August 14.

"The timing of it all is terrible and it sucks, but I think Zach [Wilson] can still have an opportunity to grow from it if he attacks it mentally," Saleh said as quoted by the New York Post.

Wilson suffered the injury in their preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles last Friday, August 12 on a non-contact play when he tried to avoid getting tackled.

The quarterback from BYU has already departed for Los Angeles to have the procedure performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Tuesday, August 16.

If things go according to plan, the current timetable for his return could have him pegged as the starter for Week 1, but in case it does not, Jets fans may still want to tune in to the game.

Former Ravens quarterback and Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco is expected to draw the start in Week 1 and it could make for some interesting football.

Flacco's time in Baltimore ended after he suffered a hip injury in the middle of the 2018 season that allowed Lamar Jackson to take the field and kickstart the Ravens' current run of performances.

With Jackson's youth overshadowing Flacco's impressive resume, the Ravens dealt him to the Denver Broncos in February of 2019 for a fourth-round pick in that year's draft.

Now serving as a backup for Wilson, Flacco has been practicing with their first-stringers and while some quarterbacks have their struggles to take up the reins of an offense, a veteran like him feels like it is already second nature at this point.

"When you're the backup, your emotions are up and down during the course of a game. It's a transition [to starting], but because I've played so much football, you get back in rhythm pretty quickly," Flacco mentioned.

Jets fans will be heavily monitoring Wilson's progression from injury and hope that he would be able to take the field as soon as possible.