Jets have Zach Wilson's back after loss to Cowboys

ARLINGTON, Texas — The backup quarterback often is said to be one of the more popular players on a football team. Zach Wilson’s promotion to starter in the 30-10 loss to Dallas on Sunday didn’t dampen any such sentiments the Jets have toward him, nor did the three interceptions he threw in the fourth quarter.

“We were letting him know we have complete trust and faith in him,” tight end Tyler Conklin, who had a team-high five catches for 50 yards, said of the message the Jets tried to relay to Wilson after the game. ”We’re here for him. We appreciate and we love him. That’s what it comes down to. We have his back no matter [what]. That’s what Garrett [Wilson] said, me, [Jeremy] Ruckert, C.J. [Uzomah], that’s what we’re going to make sure he knows, that we’ve got his back.”

That's significant, because last year, that kind of support wasn’t always palpable. In fact, the opposite was what came through in words and actions. Wilson essentially lost the team after he declined to put any of the onus on himself after the miserable loss in New England, a moment that really began the collapse of that season.

Among the most important changes the Jets believe Wilson has undergone since then is his comportment as a leader and a de facto spokesman for the squad. Yes, they hope his actual play continues to improve after having undergone a master’s level education in quarterbacking from Aaron Rodgers, abbreviated though it was. But more critical is that his confidence and his maturity grow as well.

That seems to have been the case so far.

There were several times in Sunday’s postgame news conference when Wilson put the blame on his own shoulders. He’d say things like “we need to be better” at this or that aspect of the loss, quickly followed by the addendum: “I need to be better.”

That kind of awareness certainly helps salve some uneven statistics. Wilson was 12-for-27 with three interceptions for a passer rating of 38.1, and yet his teammates were unaffected by the raw numbers.

“I think he played a solid game,” Breece Hall said. “I just think we could have done some more to help him out.”

The Jets left Dallas with their first loss of the season, but at least they haven’t lost another quarterback — either physically or metaphorically.

“We’re right there,” Wilson said. “It’s a long season. We’re going to watch this film and see how we can improve. Everyone trusts and believes in each other, and we all love each other.”

That’s not a tally in the win column this time, but, as the Jets well remember from last year’s tensions, it’s far better than the alternative.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.