INDIANAPOLIS — Cinderella’s glass slipper shattered on Thursday night for the Jets.
Backup quarterback sensation Mike White injured his right forearm in the first quarter and had to watch the rest of the Jets’ 45-30 loss to the Colts from the Lucas Oil Stadium sideline.
The injury put a halt to White’s storybook run and any idea of a quarterback controversy. It was unclear exactly when White was injured. White said he felt the forearm “lock up” after he threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Moore to tie the score at 7-7 with 3:32 left in the first quarter. White said his middle and ring fingers went numb on him and he could not grip the football. He was 7-for-11 for 95 yards and the touchdown before exiting.
“It’s very frustrating,” White said. “You get your opportunities and you want to take advantage of them. In the limited snaps I did get to play tonight, I thought I played really well and I was happy with how the offense did when I was in there. It’s not the end of the road by any means. It’s not some season-ending injury. I will be fine, and I will be able to play if my number gets called again.”
Josh Johnson replaced White and played a respectable game, throwing for three touchdowns for the first time in his career — which goes back to 2008. It took him a while to get going, and most of his statistics came after the Jets had fallen behind by 30 points, but Johnson threw for 317 yards on 27-for-41 passing with a late interception.
While the Jets’ offense was dealing with life with a third-string quarterback, the defense looked like it had never gotten off the plane. The Colts scored touchdowns on six of their first seven possessions, with the only stop coming at the Jets’ 1-yard line.
The Jets’ defense allowed an offensive lineman to catch a touchdown pass, gave up a 78-yard rushing score on which running back Jonathan Taylor was not touched, and delivered their second embarrassing performance in three games.
The Colts rushed for 260 yards in the game, the most the Jets have given up since 2007. The Colts rolled up 532 total yards, averaging 8.7 yards per play. The Colts did not have to punt until the end of the third quarter.
Taylor finished the game with 172 yards rushing and two touchdowns. That was the most rushing yards by a Jets opponent since Carlos Hyde of the 49ers rushed for 193 yards on Dec. 9, 2016.
“It wasn’t good enough, especially when the team runs the ball the way they did,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “We knew they were going to try to get the run game started, especially with the way they’ve been talking all week, trying to get [Taylor] going again. They’ve got an unbelievable offensive line. Obviously we weren’t up for the task.”
It was another humiliating performance for the Jets, two weeks after they got blasted, 54-13, by the Patriots. It appeared they had righted the ship against the Bengals last week, but that appears to have been a mirage.
The final score Thursday was deceiving. The Jets fell behind 42-10 before a late rally made the margin more respectable.
The loss dropped the Jets to 2-6 with two division games coming up next against the Bills and Dolphins. The Colts improved to 4-5.
The Jets have now lost their past seven prime-time games, with their last win coming in 2018.
White became an overnight star when he threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns in his first NFL start last Sunday, a 34-31 win over the Bengals. White is playing in place of starter Zach Wilson, who has a right knee injury. The thought was a strong performance against the Colts could keep White the starter for the immediate future.
Now, the question about who will start on Nov. 14 against the Bills is murkier. White and Saleh both said they believe his forearm will be good enough for him to play next week. Wilson threw on the field before the game, and Saleh said the Jets hope to at least have him practice next week and that he may be able to play.
Though the quarterback question will draw the most attention over the upcoming week, fixing the defense is an equally important matter. The Colts had rushing touchdowns of 34, 21 and 78 yards, and the Jets barely laid a finger on their rushers.
“They just executed better than we did,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “They got the blocks that they needed. They got the gaps that they needed. The running backs run hard and they kept running hard. Unfortunately those types of things happen. We pride ourselves in stopping the run game. We knew going into this game if we didn’t stop the run game it was going to be a night like we had. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
The Colts scored on their first four possessions in the in the first half and held a 28-10 halftime lead. They expanded that to 42-10 in the third quarter before the Jets pulled closer with three late touchdowns.
It was a step back for a team riding high after Sunday’s win over the Bengals, but Mosley said, “I still believe that we’re capable of being a great team.”
They weren’t on Thursday.