Did Jets' Robert Saleh avoid locker-room revolt with latest Zach Wilson comments?

New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh sang a different tune Wednesday while speaking with reporters about quarterback Zach Wilson, perhaps in an attempt to avoid a locker-room meltdown ahead of the upcoming "Sunday Night Football" game versus the 2-1 Kansas City Chiefs. 

"We all acknowledge he has to play better," Saleh said about Wilson, per Alex Smith of SNY. "We all acknowledge that. He acknowledges that, teammates acknowledge it, he acknowledges it himself. But the key is to have confidence in yourself. You have to. You’ve got to continually stack good days. You go out and you own your moments. You go out to practice and you dominate practice and you’ve got to find a way to gain the momentum of practice and transfer that momentum into the game." 

Saleh benched Wilson on multiple occasions last season but had to go back to the 24-year-old after Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles early into the Jets' Week 1 contest. New York dropped back-to-back games with Wilson in the lineup, and he served as arguably the league's worst starting quarterback over that time. 

Saleh generated headlines and raised eyebrows when he declared on Monday that Wilson is "our unquestioned quarterback" and insisted the 2021 first-round draft pick is better today than he was last fall. On Tuesday, ESPN's Rich Cimini (h/t Bleacher Report) reported that Jets defensive players are "not happy" about Saleh's public support of the struggling signal-caller. 

"For him, definitely needs to get better, but at the same time you’ve got to maintain the belief in yourself and your teammates and play within yourself and press to make things happen," Saleh added about Wilson. "Just play within the structure of the offense, get the ball to your playmakers and let your playmakers go to work, and as soon as that starts happening and the ball gets rolling in that regard, that’s when confidence will start to stack." 

Tim Boyle has thus far attempted just 106 career NFL regular-season passes and will serve as Wilson's primary backup through this weekend as journeyman and recent acquisition Trevor Siemian learns the offense. Unless the Jets complete a blockbuster trade as soon as Monday morning, Saleh may have to turn to either Boyle or Siemian for Week 5 if Wilson is booed off the field by the MetLife Stadium faithful in front of a national television audience.