New York Jets rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley made headlines during last Thursday's win over the Houston Texans for all the wrong reasons. On just his second career touch, Corley got the ball on a reverse and ran free around the right side with a free path to the end zone.
Just before he crossed the goal line for his first career touchdown, Corley dropped the ball. That resulted in a fumble and a touchback, taking the six points off the board and giving the Texans the ball back.
On Wednesday, Corley took a very mature approach when asked about his blunder, according to Dennis Waszak Jr. of the Associated Press.
“No, not at all,” Corley said, per Waszak Jr. “You know, you just take things with a grain of salt. You play the game for a long time, you’ve seen a lot more or less embarrassing things happen on the field. So for me, it was just a learning experience overall. Still extremely excited to run across the end zone line and be able to jet around the field and do all that type of stuff.”
Thankfully for Corley, the Jets were still able to pull off a 21-13 upset victory to keep their season alive in a wide open AFC Wild Card race. They will get a chance to stack another win on Sunday when they take on the Arizona Cardinals.
Jets need to catch fire to get back in AFC playoff race
The Jets got a much needed win over the Texans to get back to 3-6 after an inexplicable losing streak, but they still have plenty of work to do in order to get back into the AFC Wild Card picture. They are currently only two games back of the 5-4 Denver Broncos, but they also lost the head-to-head against the Broncos.
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There is good news for the Jets. While the offense isn't going to be super efficient due to a scheme that doesn't unlock a lot of easy buttons for Aaron Rodgers and company, the addition of Davante Adams gives the Jets two wide receivers who can make spectacular individual plays and generate explosives on offense all on their own. That was on full display on Thursday when Adams and Garrett Wilson made three incredible plays to put 21 points on the board for the Jets.
Defensively, the Jets have taken a slight step back from last season, but they are still a very talented unit. New York took full advantage of a Texans offensive line that has been a total dumpster fire this season, making things very hard for C.J. Stroud and company.
At minimum, the Jets likely need to get to at least nine wins in order to snag a wild card spot while the Buffalo Bills run away with the AFC East. With the exception of one more game against the Bills, the Jets have a lot of challenging but winnable games left on their schedule, highlighted by a pair of games against the Dolphins and clashes against the Colts, Jaguars, Rams and Seahawks. If they can stay hot, Rodgers and company could sneak into the postseason.
