Facing the New England Patriots for the first time, New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson received his “welcome-to-the-rivalry” moment on his first pass. And his second. And two more times after that.
The rookie was intercepted four times in his first 10 pass attempts in a 25-6 loss Sunday at MetLife Stadium, an all-time clunker in which he learned a hard lesson about being overly aggressive.
“It’s OK to play a boring game of football. That’s really it,” coach Robert Saleh said after dropping to 0-2. “He’s an electric dude. He’s competitive as crap and he wants to win so bad, but sometimes it’s OK to be boring. That’s probably the biggest lesson he can take out of this one.”
Wilson, drafted No. 2 overall, threw more interceptions in the first 34 minutes of the game than he did his entire 2020 season at BYU. The common theme: He forced passes downfield when it would’ve been wiser to take the safer, checkdown option.
Wilson joined Mark Sanchez and Sam Darnold as the only rookies in Jets history to throw four interceptions in a game. Sanchez actually did it twice in 2009, including a five-interception debacle.
Wilson became the first Jets player in 40 years to throw interceptions on his first two passes. The last to do it in any game was the Seattle Seahawks’ Tarvaris Jackson in 2011.
The Guy Report 