Garrett Wilson says he is healthy again, ready to play and ready to speak up more for the Jets after a lost year that ended with a knee injury limiting him to seven games in 2025. The 26-year-old receiver said Wednesday he has missed football a lot and feels good enough now to put the injury behind him.
That matters because the Jets are counting on Wilson to be the face of an offense that has spent years asking him to carry too much. He had not played a football game since last November, and the team has made clear it needs him to bounce back after a season that cut short his rhythm and left the offense scrambling.
Wilson gave the clearest sign yet that the comeback is real on Tuesday, when he made a highlight play in joint practice with the Buccaneers, catching a tipped pass and juking through defenders for a touchdown. It was the kind of snap that reminded everyone why the Jets have kept leaning on him since the 2022 draft, and why they believe his return can steady an attack that has been chasing consistency.
Shawn Jefferson, who has coached Wilson since 2024, said he looks like himself again. Jefferson said the offense is energized when Wilson is on the field, and that he has taken a good step forward as a more vocal leader. He also said Wilson is the only remaining Jets first-round pick from the 2022 draft after the Jets dealt Sauce Gardner to the Colts and Jermaine Johnson to the Titans.
Wilson, though, drew a line of his own. He said he will probably never be as vocal as some of his teammates want, even if he now feels fully comfortable saying something when he thinks it needs to be said. He said that comes with time and that he feels like he is there now, which leaves the Jets with a version of leadership that is quieter than the ideal but more direct than before.
That balance may matter even more because Wilson has spent his first four seasons with the Jets playing with nine different starting quarterbacks, from Joe Flacco and Zach Wilson to Mike White, Aaron Rodgers, Tim Boyle, Trevor Siemian, Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook. He said he is trying to build chemistry with Geno Smith, while Jefferson said the simplest way for Wilson to help is to just be Garrett this season.
Friday night against the Buccaneers will be the next chance to see whether the health, the production and the louder voice all travel with him when the games count. For the Jets, that is the real test now: whether Wilson can be the player they need without having to become someone else.
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