Zach Wilson isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly isn’t Peyton Manning’s.
This was supposed to be a reset year for the third-year quarterback out of BYU. But after Aaron Rodgers’ Jets tenure lasted just four snaps, he was immediately thrown back into the fire. Wilson won’t get a lot of leeway with his play, especially when considering how badly he struggled over the past two seasons, but this is also a guy who got zero starter reps and was forced to go in on the first offensive drive of the game.
Manning wasn’t willing to cut Wilson that same slack, as he seemed visibly disgusted watching the young quarterback lead the Jets offense.
“You can get on the perfect prediction panel,” Eli told his brother, Peyton. “How many times will Zach Wilson throw the ball the rest of the game? So far, it looks like he’s thrown it 12 times. Will he reach 25 times?”
“Three more at the most,” predicted Peyton. “Three more passes here.”
https://twitter.com/TSV__1/status/1701416719104053386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1701416719104053386%7Ctwgr%5E51dcce4bb67b148f422d26c832440f953ad4dfb8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnypost.com%2F2023%2F09%2F12%2Fpeyton-manning-appeared-disgusted-watching-zach-wilson%2F
Peyton was right to some degree, as Wilson finished Monday’s game 14-of-21 passing for 140 yards with one touchdown against one interception. Down 13-3 in the third quarter, the Jets rallied around Wilson and won 22-16 in overtime thanks to a walk-off punt return touchdown from undrafted free agent WR Xavier Gipson.
While Wilson’s performance was enough to get the Jets the win, don’t expect Peyton to be singing his praises anytime soon.
[TSV__1; Image from Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.