Content available exclusively for subscribers
Where does the truth lie?
During a Friday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Jordan Schultz of The Score said: “There would be a mutiny if Zach Wilson is QB1 again,” Schultz said. “It’s not gonna happen. … In speaking to some players on the team, his approach, or lack thereof, was not well regarded. Everyone knows this guy is super talented. He could be the franchise, but you want to see a lot more. Whether it’s late to meetings, screwing around in meetings, not having the right attitude, that’s what I gather.”
Schultz isn’t high enough in the NFL insider caste system to have his story accepted.
It’s like when Aaron Wilson of KPRC in Houston broke the story that the Jets were moving on from OC Mike LaFleur on Wednesday morning, and then got gaslit all afternoon by other reporters, including Jets beat writers, it came out that evening his story was true.
Schultz got destroyed for this report on Zach Wilson.
Headline – Jets Rumors: NFL Reporter Put on Blast for ‘False’ Zach Wilson Story.
That headline was from Heavy.com, but there were similar ones all over the place.
Schultz made a mistake in his report, which is unacceptable, and got destroyed for it.
Wilson has never been late for meetings.
So by doing that, people dismissed his entire report.
However, I do believe he has NFL sources.
He was the first to report last week that the Los Angeles Chargers were keeping Brandon Staley as their head coach.
I don’t think he made up his Wilson stuff out of whole cloth, but he screwed up when he said the player was late for meetings, so this allowed people to dismiss the entire report.
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who is at the top of the caste system, set the record straight on Wilson:
“The on-field product was not what anyone wanted,” Rapoport tweeted. “But Zach Wilson worked insanely hard, was on time, and did what was necessary to prepare.”
How on earth does Rapoport know that Wilson works “insanely hard?” How does he know that? He’s around the team maybe once or twice a year.
I’m not saying Wilson doesn’t put in work, but to say he works “insanely hard.” How the heck does he know that?
Consider something former NFL GM Mike Lombardi said after Wilson was benched following the New England game:
“He’s not detailed enough or understands how to be detailed enough,” Lombardi said on VSIN. “I’m not saying he’s not going to get it, but it’s a process you have to do through and the preparation you need to play QB in the National Football League goes far beyond the 2.5 hours practices you take to the field. I think there are other things in Zach Wilson’s life that kind of deter that from him.”
To me, my sense is that Wilson’s work ethic is somewhere in between the extremes of Rapoport and Lombardi.
I think does put work in, but reading the tea leaves, I’ve never gotten the sense that he’s an “insanely hard worker.”
But I think he puts in more work than Lombardi implied.
And while Schultz screwed up reporting the player is late for meetings, and that is wrong, that doesn’t mean all his information was wrong.
Right now does anyone get the sense that Wilson has a lot of support in that locker room?
He clearly has a lot of work to do moving forward to get that support.
January 23, 2023
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Tuesday.
