The Jets’ answer to fix their stagnant offense and save their sinking season threw 12 touchdowns and 26 interceptions in college, hasn’t won a game as an NFL starter and has appeared in games for four teams across five seasons.
But Monday, when Robert Saleh called him about a quarterback change, Tim Boyle became the one tasked with guiding the Jets on Friday against the Dolphins.
Maybe for the rest of the season, too. Zach Wilson was demoted to the third-string quarterback.
Trevor Siemian was signed off the practice squad to become the new backup.
And that meant Boyle had been promoted to the top of the depth chart.
It’s a different scenario from when he started three times in 2021 with the Lions, filling in for an injured Jared Goff.
The keys to the Jets’ offense could be his until his performance dictates otherwise.
With the team slipping away from postseason contention and fading toward another disappointing season, it’ll rely on Boyle — a self-described decisive quarterback who considers himself a different player from his last starts — to ignite their offense under coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who coached him for two seasons in Green Bay and tried to recruit him to Syracuse.
“I am right where I should be right now,” Boyle said. “I believe in myself, and other teams have believed in me and that is truthfully all that matters. Accountability is number one at quarterback, and I didn’t play well in college, but here I am Year 6 in the NFL. I feel like I have enough.”
Boyle knows the underwhelming college numbers are “in the past,” he said Tuesday.
The winless record and spotty NFL stats, too.
He thinks that he can make all the throws for the Jets, get the ball to their skill-position players quickly and let the rest fall into place.
Everything needed to be assembled during a short week, too. Boyle admitted that he doesn’t have a ton of reps with top wideout Garrett Wilson.
He’ll try to avoid sacks, get the ball out quickly, lead drives into the red zone and then score points.
The Jets’ offense has struggled with all of that through 10 games.
Boyle understands that, most of all, he needs to believe that he can be the one that fixes this broken offense, even if the numbers or others dictate otherwise.
He has to feel “dangerous out there,” he said.
He has to stick to his strengths, and let those open windows for the wideouts and running backs to gain yards.
By the time Boyle’s first start in 2021 had ended, he knew the primary element of his skill set would revolve around quick decision-making.
Sure, the winless Lions had lost to the Browns. Sure, Boyle had thrown two interceptions and couldn’t top 100 passing yards.
But Cleveland — with Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett on its defensive line — hadn’t recorded a sack, and his quick timing in the pocket had at least given plays a chance.
“Putting myself in the shoes of an offensive lineman, I don’t think there is anything worse than a quarterback hanging onto the ball,” Boyle said. “I think that is one thing that frustrates edge rushers as well, they can’t get home because the ball is out.”
In those starts, though, Boyle didn’t feel like himself.
He dealt with a thumb injury and wasn’t the same.
He thought there was more room to grow, and last season, he took a step back while splitting time on the practice squad with the Lions and Bears to dissect protections and routes.
That helped make pre-snap directions clearer.
“I felt like I was healthy enough to play, but truthfully, I don’t feel like I was confident enough, like that dangerous feeling I was talking about earlier,” Boyle said.
A situation like this isn’t new to Boyle, either.
During his third and final season at Connecticut, Boyle sat behind Bryant Shirreffs on the depth chart.
The Huskies had gone 2-10 the year before, with Boyle playing in nine games and starting the final three.
That changed in 2015, until Shirreffs got injured against No. 13 Houston.
Boyle entered, completed 12 of 22 passes for 110 yards and helped start a trick play — tossing the ball to the Connecticut running back, who threw a 45-yard touchdown pass — that ended with the game-winning score to make the Huskies eligible for a bowl game.
“He stayed ready,” then-UConn head coach and current LSU assistant Bob Diaco told The Post. “He stayed vigilant. He stayed positive.”
When it comes to taking over in dire situations, Boyle has “been there, done that,” Diaco said.
The Jets’ season, teetering on the brink of a disaster, hinges on him thriving in those spots again.
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