Zo speaks

This guy is one of the best at what he does,

so we always like to listen back to the Patriots radio feed of their games against the Jets, to get the insights of radio analyst Scott Zolak, who pulls no punches.

He also played quarterback in the league in the 1990’s.

Let’s take a look at some of that he said about Zack Wilson’s four interception performance in the Jets’ loss to New England.

First, let’s go over the interceptions – the first was a mid-range pass to wide receiver Corey Davis over the middle of the field.

“This is a fantastic job, off a delayed blitz, by the middle linebacker, which creates panic in Zach Wilson, who forces it into triple-coverage,” said Zolak.

The second pick was on a bootleg to the right side, also intended or Davis, and the throw was high and went off the receiver’s hand.

“It was a wild throw by Wilson on the run – he forced this one,” Zolak said.

The third pick was on a pass attempt to wide receiver Elijah Moore on the left side.

“That is as about as bad a throw as you can have – terrible throw by Zach Wilson,” Zolak said.

And then the fourth pick, a deep throw to Moore down the left side.

“I don’t know what Wilson was looking at here,” Zolak said. “These are flashbacks to the first time we saw Josh Allen as a rookie in Buffalo – not seeing things real well, throwing the ball up hoping or somebody to make a play. I don’t think he saw McCourty. How do you not see the safety?”

Patriots rookie QB Mac Jones, picked in the 2021 first-round just like Wilson, had a steady game, finishing 22 of 30 passes for 186 yards with no turnovers.

“It’s only been 2 1/2 quarterbacks, but one guy looks like a four or five year veteran, and the other looks like a rookie in this second game,” Zolak said. “Mac Jones accuracy compared to Zach Wilson – night and day.”

Zolak felt some of the Wilson’s issues were related to poor mechanics.

“The kid’s got to set his feet,’ Zolak said. “I know that is a big part of throwing on the move, back foot stuff, [but] when things start piling up on you mechanically, people start putting you under the microscope.”

Late in the game on a short incompletion to Braxton Berrios, play-by-play man Bob Socci described the throw as “flat-footed and sidearm.”

And Zolak responded – “Bad habits doing that.”

One Zolak added as the game was winding down that Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur might need to tweak his play-calling for the rookie QB.

“It’s too expansive,” Zolak said about the Jets’ offensive approach against New England. “Everything is [shot-gun] and spread and I know he dealt with a lot of that in college, but at the same [time], part of the pro game is being able to put your hands under center. Maybe it’s a height issue for him. I don’t know that. Maybe he’s more comfortable in the ‘gun.’ But they are going to have to protect him and give him some other chances where it’s not all on his shoulders.”

September 22, 2020

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