Zach Wilson spent the past week at home with family reflecting on his first five games as the Jets quarterback: What went well? What could he execute better?
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When speaking with reporters for the first time since returning from bye week, Wilson was asked what he learned most from reflecting on his Week 2 performance against the Patriots. Wilson threw four interceptions in the Jets’ 25-6 loss, but he’ll get a chance to right those wrongs at New England on Sunday.
“I didn’t necessarily think I was forcing the ball, but it was more of the fact that was it worth the risk with how the game’s going,” Wilson said. “How can I put my team in the best situation to go down the field, and sometimes it’s not worth that risk. There are times where it is and we need to take those shots, but it’s just being smart and understanding that we run the ball well, we were playing well on defense, and how can we just keep the ball in our hands so that we can go down the field and put something together.”
Wilson’s first two passes were interceptions. He went on to throw a total of four in his first 10 attempts. He completed 19 of 33 passes for 210 yards. At halftime, he was 3-of-7 for 45 yards and three interceptions — 0-for-2 with two picks in the first quarter. Since then, he’s continued to improve and is confident the Jets will put together a better performance this weekend.
“The four interceptions, obviously that happened. We want those back and I want to put him in a better position right from the get-go to make sure that doesn’t happen. Again, we’re not talking about the four interceptions, we’re not talking about three, two, one, whatever,” Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “We’re just talking about executing a play, whatever it’s called. Whether I call a good one or a bad one. If I call a bad one, the whole theme is, just don’t make my bad play worse. That’s across the board. That was the same thing we did in San Francisco, it’s the same thing they do in Green Bay. You just try not to make a bad play worse and we’ll go from there.”
Wilson doesn’t view the Patriots rematch as a measuring stick for how far he’s come. Adjustments were made based on the outcome of the first meeting, but he sees it as another game helping the young Jets move one step closer in finding their identity.
“I would say just like it was the first time we played, everything is a steppingstone. We’re building something here that’s going to be special for a long time. When it’s going to be super special, we don’t know. All we have to focus on is one step at a time,” Wilson said.
“Throwing those bricks down and getting better, so I wouldn’t say you can judge it that way. I really judge myself on the decisions I’m making every single play and if that play was the right decision to put the team in the right spot and that’s what this week is going to be about this week as well. How can I just put my team in the best positions to win this game and after that we’re just going to keep getting better.”
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Joey Chandler may be reached at jchandler@njadvancemedia.com
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