Jets' Zach Wilson shows some fight in NFL debut, and that's a good sign
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson is sacked by Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Shaq Thompson during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, in Charlotte, N.C. Credit: AP/Jacob Kupferman
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Zach Wilson will learn a lot of things along the journey that began on Sunday, and he might as well have experienced one of the first lessons any rookie quarterback will face. The feelings he expressed a few minutes after a career-opening 19-14 loss to the Panthers made it clear he got the message.
"Neck’s a little sore, a little whiplash, but I’ll be alright," Wilson said when asked how he felt. "Sometimes, I feel like I got hit by a truck."
Welcome to the NFL, kid.
Wilson was pounded relentlessly by a team whose motto is just that: Keep pounding. The Panthers were all over him from the start, making things miserable for a Jets’ offense that didn’t find any rhythm until it was almost too late in the second half. The final blow was delivered by Panthers’ defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who bear-hugged Wilson to the ground and snapped his head back with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter and the Jets down 19-8.
But Wilson offered Jets’ fans an important example of what they’ve got in him by what happened moments later. After hitting Corey Davis over the middle to get to the Panthers’ 8-yard line just before the two-minute warning, Wilson found Davis in the right corner of the end zone for his second touchdown to get the Jets back to within a score, 19-14.
It’s that kind of toughness, that kind of ability to bounce back from misfortune, that separates good quarterbacks from great ones. And while it’s way too soon to pronounce that Wilson will fall into the latter category, it’s OK to appreciate this early sign that he understands what playing the position is about.
"The kid’s been hit before," first-year coach Robert Saleh said. "He took some shots today, but he got back up and he showed resolve. He’s only going to get better from this."
That is the hope, of course, that Wilson can face down the certainty of defensive coordinators applying relentless pressure by doing the only thing that will force them to respect his game. He must find ways to make defenses respect him by finding his hot reads quicker, by checking into different plays when necessary and making defenses pay by hitting big passes down the field.
"You have to be able to play. [Pressure] is part of the quarterback position," said Wilson, who finished 20-of-37 for 258 yards for two touchdowns and a first-half interception. "You can’t just say, ‘There’s pressure, I can’t do my job.’ "
Wilson didn’t have the answers the first half and into the third quarter. He was a miserable 6-of-16 for 84 yards and a pick in the first half, but finally settled in late in the third quarter after the Jets were down, 16-0. He led the Jets on a 70-yard touchdown drive, culminating with a 22-yard scoring throw to Davis after scrambling away from pressure to his right.
Suddenly, after it appeared the Jets would spend their entire afternoon looking noncompetitive, they had made it a one-score game against the Panthers and Sam Darnold, the quarterback Wilson replaced. The Jets allowed a field goal drive on Carolina’s next possession to make it 19-8, and Wilson was pummeled with a 10-yard sack on third down. But he showed plenty of good stuff on the next drive, taking the Jets from their own 7, completing a 25-yard pass to Braxton Berrios on fourth down and then responding from Brown’s bone-jarring sack with a touchdown to close to within a score. The comeback attempt ended when Matt Ammendola’s onside kick went out of bounds.
Wilson is just 60 minutes into his NFL career, but he knows this is how it will be for however much longer he plays. He knows there will almost always be a chance, regardless of how bad things might look.
"Every game is [possible to win], even if it was 40-0," he said. "You have to approach every series like you have a chance to come back. You’ve got to keep coming back."
His coach knows, too.
"We knew this was going to the fourth quarter, knew it was going to be a one-possession game," Saleh said. "Credit to [the Panthers] and the way they played, but we’re going to be staring at these opportunities again. It’s how can we get better to make the plays necessary to win the game."
The opposing coach on Sunday also sees good things ahead. Especially after how Wilson responded from the big hit late in the game.
"When Derrick hit him on that one, I didn’t think he was going to get up," Panthers coach Matt Rhule said. "Credit to him. Happy for him. When you have a guy like that, you sense his moxie. He’s going to get better and better."
Even the greatest quarterback in Jets history believes the future is bright.
"Zach’s gonna play better with a little help from his friends," Joe Namath tweeted after the game, a reference to the Jets’ poor protection.
Linebacker C.J. Mosley was even more definitive.
"No. 2 is going to win a lot of games for us," he said.
It may take a while, but Wilson looks ready to stand up to the punishment he’ll have to endure to get where he hopes to go.
Bob Glauber retired in 2022 after covering the NFL for nearly 40 years. He was selected in 2021 for the Bill Nunn Career Achievement Award by the Pro Football Writers of America, and is a three-time winner of the New York State Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. President of the PFWA for the 2018-20 seasons, he is the author of “The Forgotten First” and “Guts and Genius.”
