Zach Wilson denies report that he was ‘reluctant’ to step back into starting role for New York Jets

Zach Wilson denied a recent report that he was “reluctant” to step back into the role of starting quarterback for the New York Jets.

“Absolutely not,” Wilson said when asked if he had any reluctance about resuming the role. “I love the guys in this locker room and I would do anything. I think any time you have an opportunity to step on this field, you need to take advantage of it.”

Wilson added that he didn’t feel the need to address the report in the locker room because he knows that his teammates have his back.

“Guys understand where we’re at right now,” Wilson said. “I’ve had backing since day one and that’s why I love this team so much. They understand the struggles we’ve been going through. There’s a lot of respect shown to just keep fighting, from everyone. We’re all going through the same thing.”

After Aaron Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury during the first game of the season, Wilson took over as the Jets’ starting quarterback. He remained in that role until he was benched ahead of New York’s Week 12 game against the Miami Dolphins.

Wilson was benched in favor of Tim Boyle, who was subsequently benched for Trevor Siemian last weekend. Now, the Jets are back to Wilson, despite his previous struggles this season. To this point, Wilson has thrown more interceptions (seven) than touchdowns (six), and he has completed just 59.2 percent of his passes.

Quarterback play has clearly been an issue all season for the Jets since Rodgers got hurt, and it will likely continue to be until he is able to return. Rodgers has been pushing to potentially return at some point this season, but it’s getting late quickly.

After a solid start to the season, the Jets have dropped five straight games. They currently sit at 4-8, and well outside of the playoff picture in the AFC.

By the time Rodgers could be ready to return, they could be out of it completely. Bringing him back at that point wouldn’t make much sense, so it’s very possible that Rodgers won’t be back out on the field until next season.

Meanwhile, it will be up to Wilson to help the Jets snap their current losing streak against the Houston Texans on Sunday. The matchup will be the 10th meeting all-time between the two teams.

The Jets have a 6-3 overall record against Houston. Most recently, New York pulled out a 21-14 victory over the Texans on Nov. 28, 2021.

In all, the Jets have five regular season games remaining. In addition to the matchup with the Texans, they’ll also face off against Miami Dolphins, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots.

While the Jets haven’t been officially eliminated from playoff contention yet, it’s tough to envision them making it with the way they’ve been playing as of late. Crazier things have happened though, so it will be interesting to see how they close out the season.