New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson has been taking a beating this week after his poor performance versus the New England Patriots.
Fans have been calling for his head, analysts said he needs to grow up, and his future as the team’s franchise quarterback has come into question.
Despite all that noise, a widely respected team leader stepped up to the plate to send a clear and strong message to his quarterback.
CJ Uzomah Sounds off on Jets QB Zach Wilson
Veteran tight end CJ Uzomah made an appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football television show this week and was asked about Wilson’s performance versus New England:
“I think the main thing is it’s a game. One game. You’re allowed to go through the growing pains as a quarterback. I told him don’t forget. We won four games. He has to learn from it.”
.@nyjets TE C.J. Uzomah on @gmfb @nflnetwork on QB Zach Wilson’s performance vs Patriots: “I think the main thing is it’s a game. One game. You’re allowed to go through the growing pains as a quarterback. I tell him don’t forget. We won 4 games. He has to learn from it.”
The Jets have an elite defense, a special teams unit that has played very well, and a strong rushing attack. With all of those pieces, people have started to speculate when the rest of the team will start turning on their quarterback.
If the Jets prove they can win with those traits and the quarterback continues to blow it, it would be easy to predict some future finger-pointing at Wilson.
However, Uzomah stopped that in its tracks.
He joined Gang Green this offseason despite offers from other teams because he wanted to play with Wilson. Additionally, the money wasn’t bad either with $24 million spread across three years.
Head coach Robert Saleh had a similar message during his media availability on Monday, October 31 when talking about Zach’s impact on the team:
“We are 5-3 because [Zach] has done a good job of taking care of the football and getting us in position to win football games along with good defense, good run game, and good special teams. There has been a really good formula. I mean the guy is 4-1 coming back as a starter, he does have a lot to do with that. There are a lot of things that don’t blow up the stat page but from a coaching standpoint, there is a lot of things that he has done that keep us from at least imploding.
“Nobody would’ve had us at five wins at this point…and Zach’s a big part of that.”
Saleh was blunt when saying the Week 8 performance “wasn’t a good game” and those “three critical mistakes were back-breaking” for Wilson.
However, he did say that Zach “is a big part of the reason why we are in this position.” He continued that “no one would have had us at five wins to start the season and Zach’s a big part of that.”
The Jets Have No Choice but to Believe in Zach Wilson
Let’s be honest, the Jets have no choice but to go all in on Wilson.
The other options on the team are lackluster and of course, they invested the No. 2 overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft in him.
If we are evaluating Wilson and his performance so far this season, he has done enough to go 4-1 as a starting quarterback.
You can try and nitpick how they were able to do it in each game, but the stats are the stats.
The Jets have found ways to win with him more times than not as the quarterback in 2022. New England was brutal, disgusting, and every other adjective you want to say.
However, at the end of the day, it was simply one game in a very long season. If this horrible play continues then perhaps this will develop into a very different conversation down the line, but at this point, it is Wilson or bust.
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Jets Starter Sends Strong Message to Zach Wilson Amid Struggles