A potential storm is brewing off the coast of MetLife Stadium.
There is uncertainty about the track, but Zach Wilson could conceivably find himself in the eye of the storm come Sunday at 1 p.m.
In a perfect world, impatient Jets fans salivating over an unexpected wild-card playoff dream would back off Wilson should he struggle against the mighty, stingy Bills and refrain from chanting for Mike White at the first sign of trouble. The fans would allow Wilson more time to develop into who and what the club’s power brokers believe and insist he will yet become.
Alas, the Jets do not live in a perfect world.
And neither do their fans.
Jets fans don’t seem to care that coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas have publicly expressed the requisite blind faith in their second-overall pick of the 2021 draft.
Fans want Zach Wilson to be Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert or … dare we say … Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen.
Alas, right now Josh Allen can win games by himself.
Zach Wilson is being asked not to lose games by himself.
Storm warnings are up because Saleh’s sudden, curious interest in developing Mike White as the backup quarterback could prove tantamount to throwing red meat to the masses should Wilson struggle against a defense that is No. 1 in fewest points allowed (13.5 ppg).
In a perfect world, Wilson will play pitch-and-catch with Garrett Wilson and show more than fleeting flashes of brilliance … or Saleh could find himself flooded under the same “We want White” chorus that drowned good old Joe Flacco early in the season.
“You’re in your own zone during the game,” White told The Post, “like when Zach’s playing, you’re watching. And then when Zach comes to the sideline, we’re on the tablet trying to look at it, what they’re doing, and making corrections and things like that.
“You try to the best of your ability to block that out.”
If Wilson should again trip on his much-anticipated second-year leap, Saleh might be forced down the road to turn to White for a spark on any given Sunday should the season be on the line at that time.
But with the bye week looming after this game, Saleh should resist any temptation to yank Wilson against the Bills, because he would be playing with a five-alarm fire that would have the fan base burning.
The organization’s steadfast, emphatic support this week of Wilson virtually precludes Saleh from doing anything other than standing by his man, for better or for worse, at this time.
Oh, by the way: White threw four interceptions last November against the Bills in a 45-17 loss. He hasn’t thrown a pass this season. If you are what your record says you are, Wilson is 4-1, for what it’s worth.
This season was all about developing Wilson until this win-now opportunity arose in a wacky NFL and AFC. But it still should be.
We’ll start seeing what kind of fighter Wilson is now. The boo birds are restless. Sunday could very well prove to be a test of the kid’s mental toughness.
“I think these young kids are more equipped than say, me,” Saleh said, “who didn’t grow up in social media where one person says something and you’re like ‘Oh my God.’ They’re able to compartmentalize, it’s pretty interesting. … We’re not worried about Zach.
“Is there a human element that he wants to prove to the world that he’s a good football player? Absolutely. … I think once he figures out his swing, it’s going to be really cool.”
In a perfect world, Zach Wilson will prove it Sunday against Josh Allen and Von Miller & Co. He will prove it not needing a second 300-yard game. He will prove it making the right play at the right time, and understanding that sometimes the right play is chucking the ball out of bounds.
“The balance is to understand that we have a pretty good team, he’s surrounded by really good players, and that if we can just live to play another down, eventually we’ll get to where we need to get to, and our playmakers will make plays,” Saleh said. “So he’s learning every day, he’s getting better every day, and knowing him he’s going to be relentless in that pursuit.”
Teammates noticed a quarterback who was champing at the bit to rebound with a vengeance.
“He seemed like he wanted to go back out there and get playing again,” Garrett Wilson told The Post. “When you have a quarterback and that competitor, that’s what you want to see out of ’em. You want them to be in a rush to get back out there and prove to all of us what we already know he is. I saw that in him today.”
Braxton Berrios: “Like I said last year, and will be until I’m sure the day he stops playing in this league: He doesn’t flinch. Literally he’s the same guy every day.”
And if there are “We want White” chants?
“He’s gonna come out, not flinch, play football, as all of us are gonna do,” Berrios said of Wilson.
Of course, if your quarterback flinches, you don’t have the right quarterback. The short-range forecast on Sunday, however, doesn’t include sunny skies. Until it does, the Jets understand as much as anyone that when it rains, it can pour.
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