Robert Saleh confident in Elijah Moore despite WR’s underwhelming debut

Jets rookie wide receiver Elijah Moore didn’t exactly turn heads during his inaugural NFL appearance this past Sunday.

Some guys hit the ground running in their first-ever NFL regular-season game.

Others may take some time.

After Sunday’s loss to the Panthers, Jets rookie wide receiver Elijah Moore seemingly finds himself in the latter category. The 2021 second-round draft pick caught just one ball for a loss of three yards in Carolina and was targeted four times.

He will put this game in the rearview though and keep on moving forward just like any professional would, and Robert Saleh knows that.

“I’m sure he wants the game bad,” the head coach told the media Wednesday. “I’ve talked to him, all these players, not just rookies but every player expects to play at an unbelievable level every single time they go out there, so when it doesn’t come to fruition, there’s frustration. But at the same time, it was great to see him out there, it was his first game action, he did some good things in that game. He had an explosive play called back from an alignment issue, but he did a lot of great things. He had a chance to really start off great with that initial post in the first half that would’ve flipped the entire field and probably the entire game, but he’s done nothing but prove everybody right in terms of how good he is and how special he is as an individual and his preparation and the way he plays. We all have confidence that he’s going to be able to step up this week and get a lot better.”

Moore was on the field for a significant amount of time when the offense was operating. The first-year player totaled 56 offensive snaps, which counted for 86% of New York’s offensive reps as a whole.

In spite of the fact that he missed all three preseason games due to injury, the Jets still value him and wish for him to be a notable component of their offensive game plans.

And he certainly will be, even after this past Sunday’s troubles.