Getty New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson at NRG Stadium on November 28, 2021.
New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson shares his birthday with Tom Brady. Now, whether that’s a good omen or not has yet to be determined.
One thing’s for sure, the rookie signal-caller is willing to work day and night to become the best football player that he can be. Ahead of Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles, that meant taking some pointers from the ‘GOAT.’
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Wilson Learning From Legends
Every young quarterback wants to be like Brady, or Joe Montana, or whichever legendary champion comes to mind. Wilson has taken things one step further, turning that mentality into a practice.
As part of his weekly game prep, the BYU product told reporters that he watches the film of different veterans around the league. He checks the schedule of the team the Jets are facing and picks “the top quarterbacks” that he feels played that defense well in 2021.
“In season, I always try and do that. Just to be like, okay, here’s what I’m doing. Here’s what these guys are doing in the similar type of offense and what things stand out to me, what things that they consistently do each and every play to just be a quarterback,” Wilson explained.
For Eagles week, the QB he studied happened to be the former New England Patriots rival. “Tom Brady was one I watched that had played against them and I thought it was really cool to see how he went through his whole process, how he navigated the pocket, different things like that.”
Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers faced Philadelphia on October 14, defeating them on the road by a score of 28-22. ‘TB12’ threw for 297 yards in this outing (34 for 42) with two touchdowns and one interception.
One thing the rookie would probably love to emulate was Brady’s fast start. In Philly, he led two touchdown drives in the first quarter and led the Eagles 21-7 at halftime.
Wilson spoke on his first-quarter struggles: “I think it’s just getting comfortable and settled in, there’s not one thing to point at… I think the more [I] put on it the harder it becomes, you just got to go out and play ball and I think that’s my mindset, I just got to come out ripping it from the beginning and just playing fast and getting into a rhythm from the beginning, so I don’t think there’s any secret to it, you just gotta be able to go out and do it.”
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Large Support System on Sidelines
We’ll find out whether Wilson can end this trend of early-game difficulties on Sunday, but the rookie has a large support system should he falter.
The Jets should have senior offensive assistant Matt Cavanaugh back on the sidelines this week and another returning figure will be veteran Joe Flacco. The 22-year-old talked about the impact of the former Baltimore Ravens champion in practice.
“[His presence] is really cool,” Wilson began. “Even if I could never ask him a question, just seeing how he goes through his process is probably the most beneficial out of anything, just seeing how he approaches practice and in certain plays, what his mindset is. I think just seeing how he thinks about something, for me, has been huge… He does a really good job of making a very complex thing very simple. And so, I feel like I’ve learned a lot and just the way he approaches something. You can see the experience that he’s had over his 14 years of just playing ball and how quickly he can eliminate. He’s seen every look possible. So, it’s cool to be able to just kind of hear some of those from him and just see how he plays ball.”
Flacco also played for the Eagles this season, so his knowledge of their system could help the Jets on defense.
Another friendly face will be John Beck — Wilson’s personal QB trainer in college — and of course, position coach Rob Calabrese will be in the mix as well. Wilson explained that Beck’s in-game assistance relates to his “mindset” and focus when it comes to being decisive or different coaching points, while Cavanaugh and Calabrese discuss the game script and situational football.
“There’s definitely a difference between both of [them] and I think they are both very needed and I appreciate them both,” he stated.
The Jets don’t care how many coaches or role models it takes, they are determined to unlock Wilson’s true potential. Let’s just hope all these different voices don’t scramble his brain.
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