Time for Jets Wide Receiver Elijah Moore to Grow Up

Maturity Issues in College

Despite being a talented college wide receiver, the future Jets wide receiver introduced himself to the national stage when his immature antics costed his team a chance at a win in the 2019 Egg Bowl. After scoring a touchdown to bring Ole Miss within 1 of their in-state rival Mississippi State, Elijah Moore was hit with a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for acting like a dog urinating.

Sure enough, Ole Miss missed the now 35-yard extra point losing the game, leading to the termination of coach Matt Luke. Afterwards, Elijah Moore admitted to making a mistake and said that he would work to grow as a person following the event.

Signs of Maturity

In Elijah Moore"s defense, it appears that he is willing to go way above and beyond to help those that he cares about. Most notably, in an extremely emotional interview, former college teammate and current Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown credited Moore with helping him battle depression.

It seemed at the time of the interview that the Jets wide receiver was well on his way to permanently changing his behavior.

Frustrations for the Jets Wide Receiver

This off-season, the Jets likely thought they sured up their offensive weapons by adding Garrett Wilson, Tyler Conklin, C.J. Uzomah and Breece Hall, while returning Elijah Moore, Corey Davis and Michael Carter. Despite all of the talent on offense, spreading the ball has been a bit of a challenge for the Jets offense.

Earlier in the season, Garrett Wilson established himself as a legitimate weapon when he went for over 100 yards in an upset win over the Browns. Meanwhile, Breece Hall made a name of himself the last couple of weeks, winning the NFL FedEx Ground Player of the Week award this past season.

Sadly, this hasn"t left a lot of touches for the talented by disgruntled Jets wide receiver, Elijah Moore. After a very productive rookie season, Moore has caught only 16 passes for 203 yards this season. Sadly, backup quarterback Joe Flacco didn"t quite connect with Moore and Zach Wilson has been a little sluggish passing the ball since he returned from his injury.

Time to Grow Up

However, despite the slow start for Moore, the Jets are 4 and 2 and showing signs of life for the first time since 2015. The selfish actions of Moore, complaining publicly after a huge upset win in Green Bay, show that he is not interested in winning games. Instead, is appears that the Elijah Moore that promised to be better in college has gone away.

Instead of addressing these conversations internally, Elijah Moore has now officially requested a trade. Transitioning from being a perennial laughing stock to a playoff contender was always going to be a challenge for the Jets. At this point, the team needs players in the room that are willing to work together to grow and win games.

At this point, winning does not appear to be a priority for the disgruntled Jets wide receiver. The Jets might very well be better off keeping him away from the team and sending him elsewhere. Hopefully, it Moore realizes the consequences of his actions, but if not, it"s time to cut the dead weight.

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