After a 10-3 loss to the Patriots last season, Jets quarterback Zach Wilson said he didn’t feel like he let the team’s defense down and that response led to reports of unhappiness with Wilson inside the team’s locker room.
Wilson’s approach after Sunday night’s 23-20 loss to the Chiefs was very different. Wilson played one of his best NFL games while leading the Jets back from 17-0 down to a 20-20 tie in the third quarter of the game, but he fumbled a snap halfway through the fourth quarter. The Chiefs recovered and were able to run out the clock from there.
“It’s on me,” Wilson said in his postgame press conference. “Critical situation, I can’t have a play like that. I cannot drop the ball. This team is sacrificing a lot. Guys were making plays, defense was making plays, o-line was protecting, receivers were making plays. To be driving right there, to drop a snap — I cannot do that. I lost us that game and I cannot do that. I was making it clear to those guys that I need to be better. I need to be better on the little things, the details. Can’t happen.”
The Jets defense had chances to get off the field after Wilson’s fumble, so it is impossible to pin the loss on a single play but Wilson’s reaction will likely go alongside his overall body of work from Sunday night as reasons to feel some optimism about what the future will hold for a quarterback who has been taking a heavy pounding the last few weeks.
