New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson faced off against Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots for the first time this Sunday. Wilson’s debut to the division rivalry was not short of disappointing. On his first pass of the day, Wilson threw an interception to pro bowler J.C. Jackson. This would snowball and determine how the majority of the game going forward would play out.
The rookie Wilson was intercepted four times in his first ten pass attempts, href=”https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32237560/new-england-patriots-pick-new-york-jets-rookie-qb-zach-wilson-3-s-1st-half” per ESPN. The performance by Wilson led to the 25-6 loss at Metlife Stadium. He learned a hard lesson about being overly aggressive. Furthermore, he tried to make it up for his mistakes all in one play.
” It’s OK to play a boring game of football. That’s really it,” coach Robert Saleh said after dropping to 0-2. “He’s an electric dude. He’s competitive as crap and he wants to win so bad, but sometimes it’s OK to be boring. That’s probably the biggest lesson he can take out of this one.”
Zach Wilson’s Rookie Mistakes
Number two overall draft pick, Wilson, threw more interceptions in the first half of that game than he did his entire junior year at BYU. Wilson made tons of rookie mistakes throughout the duration of the game. He began to get antsy and started forcing passes down the field. One would assume, it may have been wiser to take the safe check-down throw.
“This is what we signed up for, right?” Wilson said. “… I just have to remember the situation I’m in. I’m an important piece in this whole thing, and I just have to keep learning and getting better. You have to keep that swag and that mojo every single week.”
New York Jets Have High Hopes
He became the first Jets quarterback to throw three interceptions in the first half of the game since Geno Smith in 2014. This is not a common occurrence, as matter of fact, the only quarterback to do it since the start of the 2020 season was Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. Wilson also became the only fourth rookie top-five pick to have four interceptions and no touchdown passes in a game in the past 20 years, per sources.
“It wasn’t like he was overwhelmed,” Saleh said of Wilson. “There are some fundamental things that he has to understand with regard to taking care of the ball and basic stuff.”
All four interceptions were detrimental to the outcome of the game. However, as the Jets grow and become more poised as the season goes forward many believe Wilson will come into himself and find ways to win football games for the Jets. He has a high ceiling but has a rough couple of weeks and hopefully can bounce back from embarrassment and disappointment from the previous week against the Denver Broncos on the road.
