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Garrett Wilson Has Roared into the Season, but His WR Room, Offense & Team Come First

Jets' Premier Wideout Leads AFC in Receptions Through 6 Weeks, Is on Pace for Personal Pass-Catching Bests

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Garrett Wilson is off and flying into arguably the best start of his Jets career. His metrics are the most dynamic for the first 6 games of his 5 pro seasons. He leads the AFC in receptions, ranks high among all NFL wideouts in catch rate, and is on pace for personal bests in receptions and yards.

Some still think the Green & White need to get the ball to their top pass-catcher even more. But Wilson politely taps the brakes on that kind of talk.

"They've got it covered," Wilson said after Wednesday's practice about the offense coordinated by Frank Reich and executed by QB Geno Smith. "Coming to seek me out, whatever may be, those conversations don't need to be made. They're doing everything in their power to get the looks we need to get for me, having a sniper mentality, when I have a chance to make a play that will be an impact on a game. I would say they're on top of it, man. It's not like I'm trying to convince 'em. They see it that way, too."

Still, Wilson's numbers are sky-high. He's got 35 catches, which alone is noteworthy ─ that number leads the AFC, something that among Jets WRs since 1970 only Al Toon in 1986 and Wilson himself in 2024 have done in a season's first 6 games. The catches have come on 48 targets for a 72.9% catch rate that is sixth among NFL wideouts. Along with his 418 yards, he's on pace for 99 catches (he had 101 in '24) and 1,184 yards.

Unofficially, using the NFL's passer rating formula only for passes targeted for Wilson, the best receiver rating for the first 6 games of his first 4 seasons was a 101.4 last year, after the Denver game in London in which his knee injury effectively ended his season. This year, he's purring along with a 120.0 rating.

Smith knows just what a monster G5 performances can do for his own rating, which isn't doing badly at 101.8. But the QB has a few other considerations to keep in mind as well.

"We always want to get Garrett the ball. He's a great player, a big part of our offense, a key to our offense," Smith said after the Jets' first workout of the week before welcoming the Dolphins to MetLife Stadium on Sunday. "There's only one football out there. I thought Omar Cooper Jr. did a great job, he was having a great game, I thought Mason Taylor was having a great game, and Garrett as well. So, whenever I'm making my reads and we get opportunities to get him the ball, he's definitely a big part of that."

Wilson will accept all the accolades that come his way, but he believes first and foremost in his position group, the offense and the team.

"It's just about being disruptive ─ let's do it," he said. "That's the mentality we all have as competitors, every guy in the room. ... All of us have been productive when called upon. So, you have this confidence, when you're called upon again, of showing everybody why you're at this moment, why you're at this point."

The Jets are at the point where they need a win for a multitude of reasons: to notch their third win of the season, their first AFC East victory of the year, and, as Wilson said of the 26-19 loss at New England, "to get that taste out of our mouth."

See photos of the Jets on the practice field ahead of their Week 7 matchup with the Dolphins.

"It's a division opponent and we've just got to have it, given last week," he said. "It's a home game, protect our turf and all that."

Wilson and the rest of the receivers would even welcome another hungry appetite at the wideout table if Adonai Mitchell can return to action. In the first two games this season, Mitchell got to work for the first time alongside Wilson before suffering a 4-game finger injury in practice Week 3. He returned to limited practice Wednesday and HC Aaron Glenn said his availability for Miami could be a "pain tolerance deal" and "we'll see how the week goes."

How does Wilson go? He said it never takes much to get his engines up to speedy productivity:

"For me, it's just kind of getting my feet wet early. And then let's ride."

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