Zach Wilson has a day of humility with the Jets

There was a moment on Friday, the moment Zach Wilson let him fly down the middle of the field to where rookie wide receiver Elijah Moore took a diving catch, that let you imagine the possibilities.

But only one.

On the first day of the rest of Wilson’s life, there were mostly times when you were forced to temper expectations that his Jets career would soar into space as easily and sensational as Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos.

If it wasn’t the jet lag, and if it wasn’t for the nervousness of Day 1, it was the sad reality that you can’t just come up against a defense faster than any you’ve played against. at BYU and before you even begin to master a new offense, and remind anyone of Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes.

Or even remind anyone of Zach Wilson, the second drafted player, the first quarterback selected after Trevor Lawrence.

It was a first day of humility for Wilson, to say the least.

Jets fans should do themselves a favor and not press that ubiquitous panic button.

Remember, Eli Manning looked like Christian Hackenberg during his first mini-camp. So everyone relaxes. Let the kid come down from cloud nine and master this franchise quarterback stuff.

Better days are ahead. Wilson shouldn’t be Joe Namath’s second coming, but he certainly won’t be Hackenberg’s second coming.

“I would never say there is pressure,” Wilson said, “I would just say this is how do I remove some of the rust?… The game is fast, you just have to do it. get used to it and catch up.

The football gods, so cruel to Jets quarterbacks over the years, have given Wilson perfect blue skies and bright sunshine, along with coaches and teammates who know where their bread is buttered and support him.

He’s lucky in that regard: he doesn’t have to follow a franchise icon like the Giants’ Daniel Jones did and does. He follows Sam Darnold, who couldn’t swim out of Swamp Gase.

Darnold’s arm talent was so intoxicating during his 2018 rookie summer that then coach Todd Bowles named him the Week 1 starter in Detroit.

Wilson has tantalizing arm talent and has 17 more practices and six more weeks before battling Darnold in his Week 1 at Carolina.

When asked if he had a first buy in mind with his $ 22.9 million signing bonus, Wilson replied, “You can’t buy a Super Bowl, so I guess I have to work for it. that. … We’re gonna try to work for one of them, man, it’s gonna be a process. … The fun part isn’t the money, it’s definitely playing football.

His worst time playing football, a day he was strangled 7v7 in the red zone, was an interception by Marcus Maye.

“Great learning experience,” Wilson said. “I tried to launch it earlier than expected. There was a lot of body in there, I shouldn’t even have thrown the ball. It’s all a learning process.

Even on his 40-yard bomb to Moore, his dynamic rookie receiver, Wilson worried.

“Even that one, not the best ball. … I could put him further to the left and let him run, ”Wilson said.

Wilson wore his familiar white headband and white leggings and a white towel tucked into the back of his shorts. He wears number 2, but everyone knows he is number 1 in the heart and mind of general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh.

“The defense always comes out of the gates pretty quickly, then the attack slowly catches up, then it becomes a back and forth brawl,” Saleh said. “It has been traditional for the history of the time.”

The child’s first day of boot camp isn’t a fitting time to remind green and white devotees that not finding The Next Namath has become a franchise tradition.

At a generous 6ft 2in, Wilson doesn’t make an imposing figure, but if he didn’t tick the baller box, the football IQ box, the precision box, the fearlessness box, the mental toughness box, the resilience box. , the leadership box, the gym-rat and movie-junkie box, the moxie box, the team-first box, the Jets would have drafted Trey Lance or Justin Fields or Mac Jones.

“He’s got huge confidence, he comes into the squad, he doesn’t stutter, he gives the play call, when he gets to the line of scrimmage, he gets people lined up,” Saleh said, “so he’s got that leadership and that presence for him and that will only get better.

Of course. The unanswered question will be: How much better?