Zach Wilson will look to bounce back against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. (Adam Hunger, AP)
After his three-interception performance in the 22-17 loss to the Patriots last Sunday, Jets quarterback Zach Wilson has received a lot of criticism from fans on social media, reporters and national pundits.
What are Wilson’s thoughts about the criticism?
“I don’t look at any of that stuff,” Wilson said. “I just focus on what’s building with me and the guys and what my coaches are seeing, things that go on in the game.
“I just try to learn from those and just move on.”
For all the good throws that he made during the first half, Wilson was equally as bad after halftime. He completed 10 of 23 for 203 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. During the first half, Wilson was 10 of 18 for 152 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Wilson’s interceptions led to scoring drives for the Patriots, which was a significant difference in the game. But it wasn’t just his interceptions that cost the Jets the victory, his decision-making, in general, hasn’t appeared to improve when defenders are rushing or blitzing him.
That has brought on criticism from many football experts from ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky to former Jets quarterback and now Amazon football analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick.
During the Jets four-game winning streak, Wilson would toss passes into coverage as he was sometimes lucky defenders didn’t register an interception. With Breece Hall out for the season due to an ACL tear, the Patriots slowed down the Jets rushing attack hoping Wilson would have to beat them.
The problem was the second-year player out of BYU couldn’t. After the game, Wilson told reporters that when he gets out of the pocket, throwing the ball away is frustrating.
“The ball is the most important stat in all of NFL football,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “College football, it is probably the same thing too. It is the stat that never lies when you’re winning the turnover battle.
“We want Zach to be aggressive for sure. We talk about that all the time with our entire offense, as I want to call the game aggressively, but I don’t want to call it carelessly.
“A lot of teams in this league have won with boring football. I thought he made a lot of good decisions the last few weeks that allowed us to not put our defense and our team in a bad situation. He knows that and he just has to continue to grow there.”
Wilson will have his hands full facing the No. 3 defense in the league this week as the Bills come to MetLife Stadium. Buffalo only allows 298.1 yards per game and they also lead the league in points allowed with 14.
With the Jets defense ranking sixth in the NFL in yards allowed (311.4) and 11th in points allowed (19.9), Sunday could be another close game between AFC East rivals. The Jets will need Wilson to limit the interceptions and turnovers against arguably the best team in the league.
At 5-3 near the midway point in the season, Gang Green has shown it has all the components to win now when some might of thought this would be a bit of a rebuilding situation for the team. But sitting at the No. 5 spot in the AFC, a win against the Bills would keep the Jets firmly in position to make the playoffs with the bye looming next week.
“These guys are good, but we’re a good team,” Wilson said. “We are close and things are getting closer.
“I think for us, it is going out there and taking on the challenge understand that we can beat these guys, but we just gotta go out there and execute.
“Execution is the key.”
WILLIAMS WINS AWARD
Thursday morning, Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month.
In October, Williams registered 13 tackles, 4.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He also blocked a field goal during the Jets’ 27-10 victory against the Packers.
This season has been arguably Williams’ best since he was drafted out of Alabama in 2019. Currently, he has 31 tackles, six sacks (seventh in the NFL), 16 quarterback hits (tied for second) and 28 pressures (tied for 10th).
This is the first Defensive Player of the Month award for Williams. He is also the first Jets player to win the award since cornerback Darrelle Revis in 2009.
“He was dealing with coming off of that foot injury last year in the preseason and so, him being fully healthy from the jump this year,” Jets general manager Joe Douglas said.
“I think you’ve all seen the difference he can make and he’s an outstanding player, but again, I say it a lot, he is a truly outstanding person. His energy’s infectious, that smile’s infectious, and it’s been fun watching him play every Sunday.”
DAVIS MISSES PRACTICE
For the second straight time, Corey Davis missed practice on Thursday as he is still trying to recover from a knee injury he suffered during the team’s victory against the Broncos on Oct. 23. It is looking more likely that Gang Green will be without one of its top targets against the Bills.
Tackle Duane Brown (shoulder), safety LaMarcus Joyner (hip) and tight end C.J. Uzomah (shoulder) all practiced on a limited basis. A day after being limited, left guard Nate Herbig was a full participant.
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Originally published at Tribune News Service