Jets’ Zach Wilson can’t even ‘play dead,’ Hall of Fame TE says in epic takedown
Do you like scary movies? According to Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe, the Jets’ quarterback situation is the best horror flick on TV.
After Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into the Jets’ 22-16 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 1, the team has rallied around Zach Wilson. Everyone else, it seems, is begging the team to look elsewhere for a quarterback, including Sharpe, who joined ESPN’s “First Take” as a panelist in September.
“You’re not gonna win with him,” he said on “First Take” on Monday, via Awful Announcing. “I mean the dude couldn’t play dead in a horror movie…I’ve seen all of the ‘Friday the 13ths’. I’ve seen all the ‘Nightmares on Elm Streets.’ I’ve seen ‘em all. And at some point in time, you have to come to the realization, he is what he is. There is a reason…If you thought he could play just a tad, there’s no way you’d mortgage what you’d mortgaged and paid Aaron Rodgers what you paid him.
“Now, it’s sad. It’s very disheartening that four plays into his tenure with the Jets, he goes down. And now, your worst fear is realized: Zach Wilson has to play.”
In Wilson’s first start this season, the Jets lost to the Dallas Cowboys 30-10. His teammates didn’t lay the blame on him. Instead, they committed to playing better in order to allow him to succeed.
This didn’t stop Mike Greenberg from asking the Jets to “beg” the Minnesota Vikings for quarterback Kirk Cousins. Sharpe agrees with the “Get Up!” host.
“[Mike Greenberg] is absolutely right,” he said. “They know he can’t play. He can’t convince anyone in that locker room, because they saw it for an extended period of time last season…And he can’t play. I understand, yesterday notwithstanding, should they have run the football more? Absolutely. Zach Wilson can’t be your leading rusher when you have two running backs [Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook], that’s more than capable of running the football.
“But no, he takes too many sacks. And once the pressure comes, he drops his head, his eyes go down and he doesn’t know. He’s like a blind dog in a meat house. You’re not going to win. You’re not going anywhere with Zach Wilson as your quarterback.”
Wilson, who was drafted No. 2 overall by the Jets in the 2021 NFL Draft, has a 54.2 completion percentage (26 completions/48 attempts) and two touchdown passes. His four interceptions lead the NFL.
His 36 rushing yards led the Jets on Sunday.
After Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into the Jets’ 22-16 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 1, the team has rallied around Zach Wilson. Everyone else, it seems, is begging the team to look elsewhere for a quarterback, including Sharpe, who joined ESPN’s “First Take” as a panelist in September.
“You’re not gonna win with him,” he said on “First Take” on Monday, via Awful Announcing. “I mean the dude couldn’t play dead in a horror movie…I’ve seen all of the ‘Friday the 13ths’. I’ve seen all the ‘Nightmares on Elm Streets.’ I’ve seen ‘em all. And at some point in time, you have to come to the realization, he is what he is. There is a reason…If you thought he could play just a tad, there’s no way you’d mortgage what you’d mortgaged and paid Aaron Rodgers what you paid him.
“Now, it’s sad. It’s very disheartening that four plays into his tenure with the Jets, he goes down. And now, your worst fear is realized: Zach Wilson has to play.”
In Wilson’s first start this season, the Jets lost to the Dallas Cowboys 30-10. His teammates didn’t lay the blame on him. Instead, they committed to playing better in order to allow him to succeed.
This didn’t stop Mike Greenberg from asking the Jets to “beg” the Minnesota Vikings for quarterback Kirk Cousins. Sharpe agrees with the “Get Up!” host.
“[Mike Greenberg] is absolutely right,” he said. “They know he can’t play. He can’t convince anyone in that locker room, because they saw it for an extended period of time last season…And he can’t play. I understand, yesterday notwithstanding, should they have run the football more? Absolutely. Zach Wilson can’t be your leading rusher when you have two running backs [Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook], that’s more than capable of running the football.
“But no, he takes too many sacks. And once the pressure comes, he drops his head, his eyes go down and he doesn’t know. He’s like a blind dog in a meat house. You’re not going to win. You’re not going anywhere with Zach Wilson as your quarterback.”
Wilson, who was drafted No. 2 overall by the Jets in the 2021 NFL Draft, has a 54.2 completion percentage (26 completions/48 attempts) and two touchdown passes. His four interceptions lead the NFL.
His 36 rushing yards led the Jets on Sunday.
Players mentioned in this article
Aaron Rodgers
Zach Wilson
B.J. Sharpe
Kirk Cousins
Dalvin Cook
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