EAST RUTHERFORD – The Zach Wilson era is over.
Should be.
Even if he somehow plays in either of the Jets’ remaining two games this season — two road contests that are now almost certainly meaningless despite a start that should have made them anything — any hope for last year’s second overall pick lives up to his immense potential seemed to finally come to fruition one last time Thursday night, after another awful showing in a 19-3 loss to Gang Green at MetLife Stadium.
Only 23 midway through the third quarter, Wilson was finally mercifully ejected from the game after a terrible performance in front of a rain-soaked crowd that let him know they’d finally had enough and booed the offense one failed drive at a time.
“You don’t blame them,” a dejected Wilson said in a postgame news conference. “We have a really passionate fan base and they’re here to watch us score touchdowns and we don’t score touchdowns. We’re not getting first downs, we’re not moving the ball, we obviously can’t throw the ball. Therefore, of course, they will be disappointed.”
Shortly after being removed from the starter’s spot following his unusually rash comments following the New England loss, Wilson, if nothing else, started saying the right things. Actually doing them on the field still has a lot to do, though.
After the ups and downs of just four days ago in a loss to Detroit, Thursday night’s outing, his first in primetime in his short professional career, ranks among the worst starts of said career, a list far longer than his should be for someone with the undeniable talent the former BYU standout possesses.
How bad was it? Nine carries on 18 attempts, 92 yards, no touchdowns and a meaningless interception late in the first half.
Take the spot, possibly permanently, although head coach Robert Saleh has been reluctant to take such a drastic step just yet.
“He has to keep working,” he said. “We haven’t seen the last of him, but now we just have to focus on finding ways to get better. We have to find ways to help him, we have to find ways to defend better, we have to find ways to run better, we have to find ways to call the game better. We have a lot to do. It’s not just him – it’s a collective whole. We all have to find ways to get better.”
Less than two weeks after his infamous “we’ll see these guys again” comment about the Buffalo Bills after a close loss in upstate New York — with a potential postseason game in mind, of course — the playoffs are almost here an improbable feat for a team that started 5-2, got all the way to 7-4, but has now dropped its last four to fall sharply below .500 and dash the hopes of a jaded fan base coming off a must-win game Thursday that , it would seem, will never go that way from the moment the striker touches the ball.
“Now it’s not about the playoffs,” Saleh said. “It’s not. We’ve played four straight playoff-hunting teams. We’ve struggled against three of them and we’re very disappointed with today’s performance. It’s not about the playoffs right now. It’s about getting off that mat and find a way to put together a football game.”
Playoffs? To paraphrase the immortal words of Jim More, they just hope they can win the game.
It remains to be seen who will be under center in his final two chances to do so, as Mike White has yet to be cleared and Joe Flacco essentially waived Thursday night in favor of preseason folk hero Chris Streveler, who despite being promoted from the practice squad team hours before kickoff, provided an undeniable spark to the offense after entering, albeit too little, too late.
Starting Wilson, who is in the second year of a four-year, fully-guaranteed deal worth $35.1 million, in Seattle or Miami seems like a no-brainer compared to what Saleh and Wilson have discussed as the reason for the latter’s rash of poor performances, namely the lack of confidence.
“As a man, you will face adversity,” Saleh said. “As a human being, you will face adversity. You will have ups and downs in your life. He’s obviously into it now. Zach is the type of kid who is going to work his tail off. He will keep his head down. He’s going to find ways to keep improving. You would be remiss if you didn’t try to acknowledge the fact that there is confidence involved, because when people are confident they can conquer the world. It’s just something we have to help him with as well. It starts with training from all of us.”
And despite speculation about who the Jets’ quarterback will be next season — and none of the names mentioned was his — Wilson remains hopeful he’ll get another chance, deserved or otherwise, to turn his career around. era.
“It’s tough and I’m working on it, but I have to be optimistic,” Wilson said. “I believe in myself whether or not everybody else does and I’m just going to go to work and show these guys how much I care about them on this team and this season is not over for us and I’m just going to do everything I can and control what I can.”
