After a crushing last-second loss to New England where the offense managed just three points, never got into the red zone, and only once even got inside the Pats’ 40, they needed Wilson to step up and take some responsibility for the poor performance.
The problem? It wasn’t Zach Wilson who did it, the quarterback instead saying he didn’t think he let the defense down and standing at the postgame podium with all the bravado of a star QB who was still going home with the prom queen.
Instead, it was rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson who echoed head coach Robert Saleh’s comments that the Jets’ second-half offense was “dogs—t,” calling out the entire unit after the loss.
"This s--t is sorry," Garrett said after the game.
“We're out here looking sorry, and we know that we're not sorry. That's why it really hurts. We know we're better than that. That's why it hurts."
Zach Wilson completed just nine of 22 passes Sunday, with most of his 13 incompletions either underthrown, overthrown, and/or almost intercepted – and both Garrett Wilson and Denzel Mims seemed agitated with the second-year signal-caller at points.
But, while punter Braden Mann and special teams captain Justin Hardee took responsibility for the game-icing punt return by the Pats, and the defense didn’t bite on the narrative – although Sauce Gardner did say “it was kind of like a video game” – the quarterback only mustered “there’s some I’d like back” and “it was really windy, too, guys.”
Not good enough, it seemed, for the No. 10 overall pick, who screamed “I’m done with this” out loud as he stormed into the locker room, per SNY quoting Jets sources inside the building, and then seemed to call out the entire offense (although not by name) in his post-game media meeting.
“We felt like we had a chance to win the game on offense and time and time again we let it pass us up,” Wilson said. “It’s frustrating, and at the end of the game, it’s magnified. We have to be better in the passing game if we want to be where we want to be at. We got our ass beat on offense, and the results showed."
Apparently, according to Wilson, there also needs to be more accountability from Monday-Saturday, too.
"It starts in practice; it's got to be better, and the things we see and don't call out, have to start getting called out. This is unacceptable,” Wilson said. “No one wants to feel like this, but that's not enough. You have to do something about it. Hopefully, this is a wake-up for some people in the facility, all of us, to get on their details. We have to have a better plan; straight up, this isn’t okay.”
That goes for coaches and players, it seems.
“We have to take that responsibility and build each other up and come ready to work, but have a plan,” he said. “We can’t just be passively working, in the facility and not knowing what we’re there for. We have to find something to get better at, especially in the passing game.”
The wideout intimated that the coaches need to put more trust in the receivers, although Garrett seemed to think that his crew is doing the best they can to compensate for other deficiencies.
“I don’t know man, I just try to do my job to the best of my ability,” he said when asked about how much the quarterback play is hurting the Jets. “We play a position where it takes all 11 of us. If it doesn’t all go right with the other guys, you won’t have chances to make game-changing plays.
I kind of felt like that today; we know we can be there, that's the most frustrating part. We don't have to be in games like this. They didn't even score on offense, and we lost the game. Me, personally, I think we have to take it for what it is.”
And then, one last look at futility, and a plea for the future.
“How many total yards did we have? Yeah, that s--t's not going to fly,” Wilson said. “We've got the dudes. It's time to be consistent.
It's time to start winning the games we should win."
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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