The New York Jets found a way to secure just their third victory of the 2025 campaign in Week 13, but the celebration came with a caveat. Their franchise cornerstone, Garrett Wilson, wasn’t on the field to see it.
As the season winds down, the focus in New York has shifted from the scoreboard to the sidelines, where the team’s best offensive weapon faces an uncertain future for the remainder of the year.
Will Garrett Wilson Return for the Jets in 2025?
Wilson has battled health issues throughout the 2025-26 campaign, appearing in only eight of New York’s 12 contests. A nagging knee injury recently forced the team to place him on injured reserve, sidelining the Ohio State product until at least Dec. 14. While that four-week designation is the minimum, the 25-year-old could potentially sit out the remaining five games given the severity of the issue.
However, first-year head coach Aaron Glenn doesn’t appear ready to allow the season to end quietly for his star receiver. Glenn addressed the situation directly following the re-aggravation of Wilson’s injury.
“A lot of that has to do with the docs,” Glenn said. “Him being on this short-term IR, obviously, he’d get to come back after four games, so hopefully he’ll be back with us.”
The determined head coach has emphasized that despite their struggles, the Jets will compete until the final whistle. This mindset suggests a high likelihood of Wilson returning if he is physically cleared.
Despite missing four games, Wilson still leads the receiving corps with 36 catches for 395 yards and four touchdowns. With the star wideout sidelined, the receiver room has seen significant rotation. Adonai Mitchell and John Metchie III have emerged as the primary options, combining for 44 targets across their seven games together. These newest Jets wideouts could carve out significant roles alongside Wilson whenever he returns.
The 6-foot-0 receiver has faced a chaotic quarterback situation throughout his career. He has caught passes from Zach Wilson, Mike White, Joe Flacco, Trevor Siemian, Tim Boyle, Aaron Rodgers, Tyrod Taylor, and Justin Fields. While names like Flacco and Rodgers are historic figures, they were far from their prime years during their time in New York.
With Fields and Taylor running the offense in 2025, Wilson sits at 52nd in PFSN’s WR Impact metric. While missed time plays a role, the inability of Jets quarterbacks to consistently find him, even when healthy, remains a major factor.
The numbers illustrate this disconnect clearly. Wilson has yet to record a single 100-yard game this season and has seen just 59 targets in his eight starts. That pace projects to roughly 125 targets over a full 17-game slate, which would mark a career low. If Wilson does make it back to the lineup this month, the offense must prioritize feeding him the ball to help Glenn’s squad finish the year competitively.
