The play of New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson speaks for itself. That’s why when NYJ legend Joe Namath took the youngster to task publicly on ESPN radio’s “The Michael Kay Show” on September 25, many cringed rather than cheered.
“I mean, he’s passionate,” Wilson responded himself. “He’s obviously one of the greats, so as an offense we’ve got to do everything we can to try to prove him wrong.” The former No. 2 overall pick added that “we’re working to get better [as an offense]” and “I’m working to get better [as a QB],” concluding: “I know I need to improve, and I promise I’m doing everything I can to keep trying to get better.”
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett echoed a similar message as Wilson, as did most members of the Jets organization — although one veteran player was unafraid to speak out against Namath.
“I don’t like [Namath’s comments] because that’s my teammate,” Jets tight end Tyler Conklin told ESPN’s Rich Cimini while supporting his quarterback. “I don’t like it. It’s harsh to say that.”
Conklin went on: “I do understand the aspect of caring for the organization and wanting us to be successful and him being one of the greatest Jets. I do understand all those things. You’ve got to go out there and put a good product on the field — and we do need to do that for the fans and for the alumni and for all those people that need us to do that — but I did think it was harsh.”
The tight end ended by adding that “I think a lot of people could agree” with his assessment of Namath’s criticism.
Jets QB Zach Wilson Expects the Scrutiny, Says He’ll Continue to ‘Work to Improve’
If you separate the person from the player, it’s easy to feel sorry for Wilson. He’s the latest in a long line of NYJ quarterback prospects that this franchise has failed to develop.
Whether that’s a product of the infrastructure or the specific prospect can be hard to determine — and could be case-by-case in all honesty — but the BYU product is not the first prolific college talent to fail here and unfortunately, he’s probably not the last either.
The intense scrutiny “is exactly what I expected,” Wilson voiced candidly ahead of Week 4, “but I would hope that things could’ve gone better. I understand the frustration with the outside, and I get it because it hasn’t been as good as I’ve wanted. All I can do is just progressively keep trying to work to improve and get better.”
It could be the constant pressure of the New York City media and stage, the coaching hires and/or QB selections by this franchise, or the curse of Joe Willie Namath and the weight of expectation from the NYJ fanbase itself — but something has to change if this organization is ever going to find another true face of the franchise. If not, they’ll have to keep paying veterans in an attempt to patch up the problem rather than fix it long-term.
Jets OC Nathaniel Hackett Says Offense Has to Do Better as a Whole
As for Hackett, his thoughts on the offensive struggles took the team approach, as you’d expect.
“I think we as a group on offense have to do better, it’s all of us,” the coordinator told the media on September 28. “I think that we put our entire offense into some really bad situations and it doesn’t matter who’s back there at quarterback — who’s playing — when you’re behind the sticks, when you’re third and extra-long continuously, it’s not going to be good. We have to be better.”
Hackett noted that his comments apply to every single position group on the offensive side, including himself and the coaching staff.
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Jets Teammate Backs Zach Wilson, Calls Joe Namath Comments ‘Harsh’