Zach Wilson, Nathaniel Hackett, Jets wary of Giants' blitz

Zach Wilson will have his plate full Sunday against Wink Martindale’s defense. The Jets hope they don’t get stuffed and are left feeling sick when it’s over.

“There’s a lot of different things that you have to prepare for because you don’t know what he’s going to select out of his large menu,” Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “It’s like the Cheesecake Factory. You’ve got a little bit of everything that can happen.”

The pressure will be on Wilson in what is a Giants home game at MetLife Stadium. He will have to handle a variety of blitz packages that Martindale will throw at the Jets.

Wilson has shown improvement in that area. He’s stepping up in the pocket more and making big throws. This game may reveal how far he has come from that standpoint.

“They do a good job of just causing chaos,” Wilson said. “We got to be able to handle it.”

“Chaos’’ was a word used a lot this week by the Jets to describe what Giants defensive coordinator Martindale creates.

Few teams blitz more than the Giants, who rank third in the NFL at 41.6%, or disguise their blitzes better or play man coverage as much. The Giants (2-5) sacked Washington’s Sam Howell six times last week in a 14-7 victory, and Martindale likes to turn up the pressure against young quarterbacks.

“They have every front that you might think of,” Hackett said. “They have every pressure you could ever think of and brand-new ones. They have every all-out pressure. They bring everybody. They just do so many different things that you have to have stuff that can beat that stuff and have answers when they don’t do it.”

Hackett added that the Jets (3-3) have to “concentrate on our rules” because they could see something from Martindale that they didn’t see in their video study.

On the other side of the ball, the Jets’ defense hopes to frustrate quarterback Tyrod Taylor the way it frustrated Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts two weeks ago.

This game is for more than bragging rights. The pressure will be on Wilson and the Jets coming out of their bye week to get above .500 and into the playoff hunt without Aaron Rodgers.

The 20-14 win over the reigning NFC champion Eagles two weeks ago gave the Jets and their fans hope that they can reach the postseason. Rodgers could return later this season from a left Achilles tendon tear, but the Jets need Wilson to continue to improve.

Wilson’s last three games probably have been the best of his career, the most efficient in his two-plus seasons with the Jets.

He’s completed 67.4% of his passes with two touchdowns and one interception. He and the rest of the offense need to be better in the red zone, where they’ve scored one touchdown in nine trips during their two-game winning streak.

“I think you can tell that the guy has been around greatness,” Martindale said of Wilson. “You guys know how I feel about Aaron Rodgers. You can tell the guy’s confidence, how it’s grown playing the position. I’ve seen the improvement in the way he’s running the offense.”

Something clicked for Wilson in the Jets’ 23-20 Week 4 loss to Kansas City when he completed a career-high 28 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns. He called it “a turning point.” Others also see a difference in Wilson.

“It’s the confidence,” receiver Allen Lazard said. “You can hear it in his voice. You can feel it when he walks in the huddle, the way he’s talking, the way he carries himself throughout the week at meetings and practice and everything. You just sense a different shift in him.”

Hackett said the change he displayed in the Kansas City game stemmed from everyone feeling more comfortable working together. The Jets “zeroed in on” how they wanted to attack Kansas City’s defense, Hackett said, and it worked.

“Zach started relaxing and having fun and playing football instead of thinking football,” Hackett said. “He’s not going out there just ‘what should I do?’ and thinking about so much. He’s just going out there and living within the system and understanding the different tools that he has to be able to help himself out.”

Wilson said it was the first time everything he did in practice all came together and he felt more comfortable.

“I felt like finally that was the first game that this is what I have been showing I can do, and I was able to do it,” Wilson said. “It kind of gains more trust with the guys around you as well. They have more trust in me and I have more trust in them, with Coach Hack as well. We’re able to keep building on that and it is a good feeling to have.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.