Salt Lake City – NBA star LeBron James joins NFL stars in defending New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson as he comes under fire from the media following Week 4’s Sunday Night Football game.
Wilson and the Jets take on the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, October 1 at MetLife Stadium.
The former BYU quarterback has performed well despite a rocky start to his NFL career. Unfortunately for Wilson, the Jets lost to the Chiefs 23-20.
The third-year quarterback fumbled a kickoff in the fourth quarter and the Jets never got the ball back until trailing.
After the game, Wilson took responsibility for the loss. He told his team “I lost the game. It’s my fault, man,” and “I can’t do that.”
Wilson’s acceptance of the blame after showing signs of improvement in the three-point loss was a sign of his growth off the field. Last season, Wilson failed to take responsibility for poor performance in his postgame press conference. One year later, the quarterback is showing signs of maturity.
After the game, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James praised Wilson’s performance and advised the quarterback to take the game in stride.
“What a gamer! You win as a team and you lose as a team…keep your head high and keep going. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it,” James wrote on his Instagram Story.
Despite the support of James, Wilson’s strong performance was not enough to prevent some postgame criticism. Former NFL defensive back Rodney Harrison of NBC Sports criticized the former BYU standout before and after Sunday Night Football.
Before kickoff, Harrison accused Wilson of “missing the open man” during pregame warmups.
After the game, Harrison said Wilson “is garbage” during his postgame talk with Chiefs star Chris Jones. The Kansas City standout disagrees.
“Honestly, if I’m completely honest, we knew it was going to be a battle,” Jones said as he prepared to play Wilson. “He continues to get better week after week and continues to lead week after week.”
Jones added that he thinks Wilson is a “special” player.
“Are you saying Zach Wilson is special?” Harrison asked. “I don’t think he’s special… He’s not special.”
Former NFL quarterback and current Fox Sports analyst Matt Leinart called Harrison’s comments “complete garbage.”
“This is garbage. Our job in the media is to analyze and criticize, not to tear these people apart, especially after a good game.” Leinart posted on social media.
James, Jones and Leinart weren’t the only pro athletes to defend Wilson.
Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, who sacked Wilson twice in the Cowboys’ Week 2 win over the Jets, called Harrison’s comments a “fraud” and said the Jets quarterback was better.
“You can’t say he’s not a good quarterback. He’s a starting quarterback in the NFL,” Parsons said of Wilson. “I know we all love the game of football, but at the end of the day, we have to remember Zach is a human being.”
NFL free agent Tyler Lewan went on “Up and Adams” and said he didn’t understand why Harrison made the comments about Wilson.
“People need to realize how difficult it is to make it to the NFL on your own. So, is he as special as the top quarterbacks in the NFL right now, using the word ‘special’ that we use? No, the statistics say that. That’s the consensus. He Not special in that regard, but he got into the NFL and he’s doing the best he can,” Lewandowski said. “He kept his nose clean. He did a great job. He seemed to be doing great on ‘Hard Knocks.’ I just didn’t get it. “I don’t understand. “
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Wilson finished the game 28/39 passing for 245 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran the ball twice for 14 yards. Wilson was sacked twice and fumbled the ball. The third-year pro has a 105.2 rating.
With 10 minutes and 40 seconds left in the third quarter, Wilson connected with Allen Lazard for 10 yards and scored six points. It was Wilson’s second touchdown pass of the game. After the touchdown, the quarterback scrambled and scored two points.
Wilson’s touchdown and two-point conversion tied the score at 20-20.
Wilson scored his first touchdown with 6:26 left in the first half. The former BYU star passed the ball into the far corner of the end zone and into the hands of Jets tight end CJ Uzomah. A one-yard touchdown cut Kansas City’s lead to 17-12.
Wilson entered the game throwing for 467 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions this season.
With the loss, the Jets fell to 1-3 on the season. The team has lost its last three games.
New York’s next game will be on the road against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, October 8 at 2:25 pm (MDT). The game will be televised on CBS and NFL Sunday Ticket.
Before joining the NFL, the Corner Canyon High School product had an outstanding career at Brigham Young University (BYU). Wilson helped the Cougars to an 11-1 record in his final season in Provo.
After his college career, the Jets selected Wilson with the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Wilson missed four games with a knee injury during the quarterback’s rookie season. He threw for 2,334 yards, nine touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a completion percentage of 55.6 on the year.
Before the start of his second season, the former BYU star suffered a knee injury in New York’s preseason opener and underwent surgery. The Jets opened the 2022 season with a 1-2 record without Wilson. After returning, the Jets posted a 5-2 record before Wilson was benched for the first time. After a month’s layoff, Wilson returned to play for a few games before once again being on the bench.
Last season, the Jets had a record of 7 wins and 10 losses and missed the NFL playoffs.
RELATED: Zach Wilson discusses taking over as New York Jets starting quarterback
Wilson finished the 2022 season passing for 1,688 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 54.5% completion rate. His grade was 72.9 and his QBR was 37.1. The Jets missed the playoffs with a 7-10 record.
In his first two seasons in the league, Wilson passed for 4,022 yards, 15 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He also ran for 287 yards and five touchdowns.
Kyle Ireland is an NFL insider and sports producer for KSLSports.com.He is also the co-host of the “Yards After College” podcast. Follow him on X/Twitter (@kyleireland), Instagram (@kyleirelandksl) and Threads (@kyleirelandksl).
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