Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers says Zach Wilson has an opportunity to re-set his career while spending this season on the sideline.
Rodgers said he wants to be a mentor to Wilson to help him grow into the kind of quarterback he can be, and that he believes Wilson can grow without the pressure of having to be a starting quarterback.
“I hope this time for him is like a deep inhale and exhale and he can really take a breath and pause and deal with the disappointment of last year and the frustration, and then channel it. I feel like he has, just re-channel it as a positive and focus on the opportunity in front of him to learn with a guy who loves him and cares about him and wants him to be great and wants him to do incredible things every day and be better,” Rodgers said.
Wilson played ugly football last year and has been a major disappointment as the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. But Rodgers says Wilson is showing the talent that made him a high pick.
“He has played really, really well in camp,” Rodgers said. “He’s made a number of great throws. He looks confident. His fundamentals are improving. He’s throwing the ball on time. He’s got all the intangibles. . . . I think he’ll look back years from now and be really thankful for this time to grow, to reset, to take a breath, and it’s gonna set him up for a nice long career in the league.”
Rodgers himself was once a first-round pick who spent the early part of his career on the bench behind a future Hall of Famer in Brett Favre. He’d like to see Wilson get the chance to develop and perhaps have a good future — even though it may not be with the Jets.