Sunday was hardly the introduction Zach Wilson envisioned to his home crowd.
Playing in his first home game as a Jet, Wilson was picked off on his first two pass attempts, finished with four on the day, which all came in his first 10 passing attempts.
Wilson’s anticipated MetLife Stadium debut quickly turned to a chorus of boos in a suffocating 25-6 loss.
“They should be disappointed,” Wilson said. I thought the defense played well, and they deserve to see good football. We work our butts off to be able to come in here and play well, so it is tough when you don't do that.”
Wilson’s four interceptions were more than he threw in his entire final season at BYU, a major step back from a promising second half in New York’s Week 1 loss to the Panthers.
“There’s gonna be games like this,” Wilson said. “There’s gonna be ups and downs. We saw it last week in the first half as well. We just keep getting reminded of how long this season is and how we can just get back and keep getting better.
“I just have to remember the situation that I'm in. I'm an important piece in this whole thing…You've gotta keep that swag and that mojo every single week.”
Wilson was outdueled by a conservative Mac Jones, who kept it simple by completing 22 of his 30 passes for 186 yards in his first NFL win, which Wilson is still searching for. Jones didn’t look flashy in the victory, but he was able to settle into a groove that Wilson never gave himself a chance to find.
“I felt like there was a lack of rhythm,” Wilson said. “I think it’s obviously because when your first two passes are interceptions, it’s tough to find that rhythm. You’re not on the field much. All of a sudden the first quarter is over and we’ve only had a couple plays out there on the field.
“When the first two passes are interceptions, we’re putting our defense in a bad spot there, I gotta do a better job executing, decision-making, just being smarter with the ball. Turnovers are a big deciding factor in winning games. I thought our defense played well, and I gotta do a better job executing.”
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Head coach Robert Saleh had a similar assessment. He didn’t feel like the moment was too big for Wilson in his introduction to the AFC East rivalry, but he did see plenty of areas where the second overall draft pick can improve.
“It wasn’t like he was overwhelmed,” Saleh said. “There’s just some fundamental things he’s gotta understand in terms of taking care of the ball. Just basic stuff…when you lose the turnover battle 4-0, it’s impossible.”
Wilson will have to fix those fundamental issues in a hurry, as multiple interceptions came when he wasn’t under any duress, unlike Week 1 where he faced constant pressure. It was certainly a regression from his Week 1 performance, which there may be many of as a rookie starter, but there wasn’t much for the home fans to get excited about when it came to their quarterback of the future.
“We’re gonna do what we can this week to keep getting better, and we’re just gonna hit that reset button and keep learning from all these things,” Wilson said.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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