Jets react to 'silly' Malachi Corley mistake vs. Texans

New York Jets rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley committed what could have gone down as the blunder of the NFL season when he shockingly dropped the ball short of the goal line to turn a New York touchdown into a touchback for the Houston Texans in the second quarter of Thursday night's game at MetLife Stadium. 

However, Corley's head coach and teammates sounded ready to move on from his mistake after Gang Green earned a 21-13 win. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and improved the club to 3-6. 

"Definitely frustrated to be honest, and angry at the same time," Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said about the Corley play during a postgame news conference, as Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk shared. "But what an amazing opportunity for this kid to grow and learn from. I promise you, 10 years from now when he’s still playing in this league, that will never happen again."

Ulbrich also revealed what he told Corley about the unforced error. 

"First of all, you can’t do that. And second of all, you owe us one," Ulbrich said to the 22-year-old. 

Per Bridget Hyland of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers called the fumble a "silly play." Perhaps Rodgers knows he'll need Corley moving forward after the third-round draft pick recorded just one reception for four yards this season before he took a touchdown off the scoreboard on Thursday. 

While the Jets acquired wide receiver Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders last month, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said as recently as this past Wednesday that the Jets "are open" to trading veteran receiver Mike Williams, who "is open to a trade" before this coming Tuesday's deadline for such transactions. Theoretically, Williams heading elsewhere could result in Corley getting additional touches beginning with the Week 10 matchup at the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 10.

"It sucks for him that it was his first touchdown," Jets tight end Tyler Conklin added about Corley's play. "S--- happens, though. I think the big thing as a team that we’ve talked about: how do we answer adversity, right? When things go wrong or something like that happens how do we answer it? ...Malachi will get in the end zone again." 

Corley has some time to try to regain Ulbrich and Rodgers' trust before New York's next game. It will be interesting to see if the Jets punish Corley or return to him in the red zone at Arizona's State Farm Stadium.