Zach Wilson has quickly become one of the most controversial young quarterbacks in the competition. Even when the New York Jets were doing rather well, Zach’s numbers weren’t nearly as good as he would have wanted them to be.
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However, the management was still giving him chances to prove his prowess on a regular basis. This apparently didn’t go down well with a lot of other members in the team.
In short, Wilson’s numbers were down, his mates weren’t really happy with him starting every game but what really forced the management to bench him was his infamous reply in the postgame press meet after the embarrassing loss against the Patriots.
Zach was asked if the offense let the team’s defense down to which his response was an arrogant ‘No.’ After this, he was dropped from the team and Mike White was given a chance to lead the offense.
Several Jets players ‘openly grumbled’ when Zach Wilson was given a chance to start
As it turns out, the moment Zach was benched, many team members openly expressed elation, as if they were desperately waiting for Wilson to warm the benches. Moreover, as per NFL Insider Dov Kleiman and The Athletic’s Zach Rosenblatt, when Wilson was again asked to start later in the season, several team members “openly grumbled” about the decision.
Report: After a 10-3 loss to the #Patriots mid-season, the #Jets locker room “rejoiced” that the team decided to bench QB Zach Wilson in favor of journeyman Mike White.
When Wilson replaced White weeks later, multiple teammates “openly grumbled” in meetings, per @ZackBlatt pic.twitter.com/C6uh6T4Bcm
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 19, 2023
As far as the Jets are concerned, after getting off to a seemingly good start, they completely lost their way. The team from New York ended up losing all of their last 6 games in a brutal fashion.
Moreover, what stood out in all those clashes was the offense’s inability to deliver under pressure. All the drama created by the quarterback fiasco ended up costing the Jets big time as their winning momentum took a super massive hit once things went awry and they just couldn’t recover.
Without a doubt, Wilson is an extremely talented individual and the management would probably back him for the coming few seasons as he is still very young. However, they need to resolve the internal conflicts if they want Zach to deliver his best on the field without getting bogged down by all the extra pressure.
