Ultra-competitive Garrett Wilson always seems frustrated with usage
Aaron Rodgers wasn’t interested in discussing Garrett Wilson’s frustration about a lack of targets in the Jets’ last game. Rodgers’ answers were short, which is not the norm for the outspoken quarterback.
Rodgers indicated that he has spoken to Wilson about it previously — multiple times.
“I’ve talked to him throughout the season about some of it, yeah,” Rodgers said Tuesday.
Not recently, though.
“Not this week, not in the last couple of weeks,” Rodgers said. “But it’s not the first time. There’s been conversations about it.”
This creates questions about the Rodgers-Wilson relationship.
Wilson is getting the ball. He leads the Jets with 90 catches for 987 yards. Wilson has been targeted 141 times, the fourth-most in the NFL. It’s not an official stat, but Wilson might also rank among the league leaders in times he appears frustrated.
Wilson has shown it during and after the last two games, believing he could have been utilized more.
“Receivers want the ball,” Rodgers said. “I understand that.”
Wilson is ultra-competitive and hates losing. Three straight losing season — and particularly how this season has gone overall — could make Wilson look for a change of address after the season.
There has been speculation about Wilson requesting a trade. He’s on his rookie deal so the Jets have him under contract for two more seasons. But Wilson has been non-committal about desire to remain with the Jets’ long term.
Wilson began the season as the Jets No. 1 wide receiver. Since the Jets traded for Davante Adams on Oct. 15, Wilson has become Rodgers’ second option. Rodgers has a long history and great chemistry with Adams.
They played together for eight years in Green Bay. Rodgers has thrown 82 touchdown passes to Adams — tied for the third most by a quarterback-receiver duo in NFL history. They have six this season in nine games.
Wilson is on pace to establish new career highs in receptions and yards. But his targets and overall production have dipped since Adams arrived.
Adams has been targeted 20 more times than Wilson in the nine games they’ve played together. In the last four weeks, Adams has been targeted 48 times compared to 33 for Wilson. Adams has 30 catches for 441 yards and five touchdowns in that time. Wilson has 33 receptions for 265 yards and one score.
Wilson had a very animated conversation with receivers coach Shawn Jefferson during a win in Jacksonville two weeks ago. Wilson urged that he get thrown a fade pass in the red zone when he’s covered one-on-one. Last Sunday against the Rams, Wilson was targeted three times in the first 55:30 and four times on the Jets’ final drive.
Wilson voiced confusion and frustration following the game in which Adams was targeted 13 times. That was Wilson’s total the last two games combined.
“I’d love to be involved, love to make an impact on the game,” Wilson said. “If people see it differently, it’s out of my control. Just do what I can do.”
Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said on Monday that the Jets have “got to find ways to get Garrett the ball more often.”
Ulbrich said passing-game coordinator Todd Downing “does an amazing job” building game plans “to really balance the targets,” but the coverage determines where the football goes.
“Even with Davante joining us, there's still a large portion of targets that are designed for Garrett,” Ulbrich said.
Ultimately, it’s up to Rodgers to go through his progressions and deliver the ball to the open receiver.
“Yeah, it’s on me,” Rodgers said. “There' a lot of moving factors. In the end, you try to throw it to the open guys. You got to go through your progressions. He can be number one in the progression and not get the ball. He could be on the backside of progression and get the ball. Just depends on how defenses play.
“There's a ton of plays in the plan for both him and Davante. That’s how you usually scheme. You scheme out plays for your top players. So there's a ton of plays for Garrett, a ton of plays for Davante. They most of the time get called and it’s just a matter of me reading the defense out and get the ball to right spot.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
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