The most accomplished quarterback in Jets history is throwing in the towel on Zach Wilson.
Wilson, the second-overall pick in the 2021 draft, has been in the crosshairs after the Jets fell to the Patriots, 15-10, on Sunday in a game in which he averaged a paltry 4.4 yards per attempt and has in general not shown a readiness to be a winning professional quarterback.
The 80-year-old Namath appeared on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN New York on Monday and was asked if he took any positives out of Wilson’s performance on Sunday.
“No, I didn’t take anything positive out of it yesterday. It was awful,” said Namath, who also voiced his displeasure with Wilson and the coaches on X, formerly Twitter, during the game.
Asked why, Namath, who quarterbacked the Jets’ only championship victory in Super Bowl III in 1969, responded, “Why? Were you watching? I mean, puh-lease. You sit down? You sit down on the play, you go right down? What happened? I thought you were trying to make plays and win. You quit on a play. What is going on? It’s disgusting.”
Head coach Robert Saleh has repeatedly said Wilson, who was thrust into action when Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1 against the Bills, remains the team’s starting quarterback.
“He’s our unquestioned quarterback, guys,” Saleh told reporters Monday. “As long as he continues to show in his preparation, the way he’s been practicing and even in these games, guys. He’s not the reason we lost yesterday. It’s always a team effort. As long as he continues to show improvement, and I know from a box score standpoint it’s not showing, he’s going to be our quarterback.”
Namath was of the belief that the situation with Wilson is unsalvageable.
“Send him to Kansas City to backup against somebody like [Patrick] Mahomes and maybe learn something. I wouldn’t keep him,” Namath said. “I’ve seen enough of Zach Wilson, all right? I’ve seen enough. Has quick feet, can throw a little bit, but I don’t believe what’s going on up there.”
Namath continued to say that “if you have an eye about football at all,” then it’s easy to see that things are “haywire” with the Jets.
Namath was not buying the excuse that the offense was installed for Rodgers, not Wilson.
“How many months ago was that to learn the offense? How many months ago was that? Come on. Now, Aaron, he got hurt, OK. Well, what do you think you have backups for?” Namath asked.
“They’re ready to go, they’re supposed to be ready to go. We’re looking at an offense that just doesn’t play well. You’ve got an offensive coordinator that doesn’t seem to be calling the right plays. I just think for this fan, they’ve got to make major changes from top to bottom.
“Yes [that includes Saleh]. When he’s telling me that locker room is together, when he’s telling me these guys love one another, yeah, well thanks a lot. You can go back to whatever place you learned that stuff. They’re losing. Guys don’t like to lose. They’re not holding hands when they’re losing.”
The Jets are 9.5-point home underdogs against the Chiefs on Sunday night.
