Elijah Moore was back in the Jets’ lineup Sunday afternoon during their loss to the New England Patriots only two weeks after he had requested a trade away from New York.
While Moore said that his relationship was fine with the Jets, he was only targeted once by quarterback Zach Wilson and afterward said that there had been “things behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t realize” while lamenting becoming a distraction to his teammates. News broke of the request in the days leading up to the Jets’ Week 7 win over the Denver Broncos and head coach Rober Saleh opted to keep him out of the lineup in that game.
Sunday had been his first game action since things went public. Moore initially did not want to discuss the reasons for his trade request or if he still wanted to be dealt, but later mentioned that certain things that weren’t in the public eye played a part for his wanting out.
“There’s a lot of things behind the scenes that I’d like to keep inside that happened towards my reaction for that. It is what it is,” Moore said.
Moore said that there was “definitely a buildup that led” that led to the trade request. “I’m not even focused on that no more, I play for the Jets, so I try to do what I can do to help contribute to win,” he said.
The wideout had come off a 2021 season that saw him make 43 catches for 538 yards and five touchdowns. This season he had not made nearly the impact that he wanted, with just 16 catches for 203 yards and he has yet to find the endzone.
He had grown increasingly frustrated and had posted to social media, which set off the public chain of events that eventually led to the trade request. Moore indicated that he wish he could have made more of an impact in the Jets’ loss to the Pats when he spoke with reporters at his stall in the team’s locker room.
Moore said that he wasn’t sure what the exact reason was for his struggles.
“I don’t think it’s just one thing. I think it’s a continuous number of things,” he said. “I can’t put my finger on it. I know just as much as you guys know.
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When asked about his chemistry with the Jets starting quarterback, he struggled to answer.
“I don’t even know. I can’t even tell you. I don’t get the ball,” Moore said.
