One pass by Zach Wilson showed Jets they might have something special

Hours after the Jets earned their first win of the season, after Zach Wilson threw a ridiculous touchdown pass that you don’t usually see rookies complete and after he chastised himself for some throws that he missed, he was texting with offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.

LaFleur said "I absolutely love" the fact that Wilson wasn’t satisfied with his play at all and acknowledged that he could do better. He also had a message for Wilson.

"I was like, ‘Hey, do enjoy this, too. This was not easy and yeah, you’re sitting there worried about all the plays you didn’t make,’ " LaFleur said. " ‘But at the same time, you got to appreciate wins in this league.’ "

LaFleur said he had similar thoughts about his performance and play-calling last week. He felt good for everyone in the building that the Jets finally won after three straight losses to open the season, but he said he could have done a better job.

That was a common theme. The Jets weren’t satisfied and know last week means nothing if they don’t follow it with a win over the Falcons on Sunday in London.

Robert Saleh said he and the coaches were excited that the attitude of many of the players was: "I don’t need that pat on the back. How can I fix the mistakes I made?’’ He added, "That was all verbalized, vocalized."

This is a young, hungry group that’s striving to change the Jets’ mostly negative history. Saleh and his coaches are setting the tone for that by raising the standards. It also helps when your 22-year-old quarterback has a rocket for an arm, confidence as high as Big Ben and a drive to be special.

The thinking inside the Jets’ facility is that it’s only a matter of time before Wilson gets there.

He is the 39th different player to start at quarterback for the Jets since Joe Namath led them to victory in Super Bowl III. He’s the 11th since their last playoff berth, after the 2010 season.

The Jets have a strong conviction that Wilson will end both of those droughts, and he gave a little glimpse of why they feel that way last Sunday against Tennessee.

Wilson threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns, but it was his plays off-schedule and on the move that could separate him. The 53-yard touchdown pass that he threw to Corey Davis still was a topic of conversation leading up to the Falcons game.

Wilson had an open receiver in Keelan Cole. That’s where he was supposed to go with the ball. Wilson, however, thought he could make the throw to Davis. He waved for him to go long, Davis listened, and Wilson dropped the football right into his chest for the score.

"I ain’t really ever seen that from a quarterback personally on my team," Cole said. "There was two men running a route, one of them was wide open. It wasn’t the one he threw it to. He took the chance. He took control and he made that play. That’s a big step.

"That’s something like, when you can say, ‘I got this. This is open, but I got this. This is what I want to do to help this team.’ The biggest goal of the game of football is score touchdowns. That’s what he decided he wanted to do instead of taking a short play or taking another play in general just to get there. I enjoy that. I like that."

The coaches liked the result, but they were a little nervous.

Saleh said his reaction was, "No. No. No. No . . . Oh my God!"

"I knew where he was going with the ball," LaFleur said. "I was looking at Keelan as the number one, and I was like, ‘Throw him the ball.’ But he didn’t."

LaFleur said they worked on that same play in practice, got the "exact same look" and Wilson delivered the pass to Cole. But Wilson also saw Davis in his progression and talked with LaFleur about taking a shot depending on the coverage.

Wilson got the same coverage in the game and couldn’t resist. He rolled right, directed Davis to keep going and took the shot.

"I definitely have things this week I’m focusing on from last week that I thought I could’ve done better," Wilson said. "I’m just excited to get on the field and put those to the test. Like Coach Saleh says, ‘Stack those days up.’ "

After Wilson threw four interceptions in Week 2 against the Patriots, Saleh said he sometimes needs to play "boring" and throw it away or take the checkdown. Wilson is doing that more, but the Jets also want him to do the things that made him the No. 2 pick in the draft.

"You just want him to ball," Saleh said. "Those are the things that make those players special. There’s a feeling that Zach is going to get it. You don’t want to force a young man and put him in a box. You never want to do that.

"The more he learns the game, the more he feels the speed of the game, the more he’ll know exactly when to pick and choose his spots. When he does, just like [last] Sunday, they’ll be explosive. Hopefully he learns faster."