Jets Country

Zach Wilson Spoke With These Legendary Quarterbacks After Getting Benched

Wilson reached out to these all-time quarterbacks when he was resetting on the sidelines, benched for three games.

Max Goodman

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When Zach Wilson was benched last month, a new low point in his career, the former No. 2 overall pick reached out to some former NFL quarterbacks that went through a similar taste of adversity early in their careers. 

Wilson revealed to reporters on Tuesday that he spoke with Steve Young and John Beck—two quarterbacks with a BYU connection—as well as Drew Brees and Kurt Warner. He wanted to learn as much about their journeys as possible before returning to the field in a Jets uniform.

"The biggest thing was there’s going to be these ups and downs in football and you always have to believe in yourself and rely on your support system and just understand that this is all just part of the process," Wilson said, looking ahead to his start against the Jaguars this week. "Some of the biggest things I took from it was where you want to get, this is just going to help you get there faster. the bumps, the ups and downs, it’s tough, but eventually you’re able to make your way through it. Along the way, you’re able to learn a lot of really good lessons, and you’re almost able to be more aware as well."

Wilson has a long way to go before he is in the same conversation with those legendary quarterbacks, or others that hit speed bumps early in their career. In the meantime, his head coach Robert Saleh is preaching patience.

"The quarterback position, it takes time," Saleh said on Tuesday. "There’s quarterbacks through the history of time that needed just a little bit longer to find their groove. So, when you see Zach, he’s got a lot of things that you just can’t teach. You just can’t teach some of the stuff that he does. For him, it’s learning the timing and rhythm aspect of it and the intermediate pass game and finding all that consistency for four quarters, because when he is in rhythm and he is hitting on all cylinders, it’s pretty cool to watch."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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