Former New York Jets wide receiver Randall Cobb criticized the team for Zach Wilson leaks
In 2023, New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson was thrown back into the fire after Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles in Week 1. Although Wilson’s play with New York left much to be desired, former Jets wide receiver Randall Cobb thinks the blame shouldn’t be placed on Wilson.
Speaking on the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, Cobb detailed how the organization was left unprepared after Rodgers’ devastating injury forced Wilson into the starting position.
“When you’re an older player, you start connecting with more people than just the players … You just start to hear bits and pieces from all the different areas. Once you start tying the pieces together, you start seeing [things]. Like, I’ve seen this before,” said Cobb.
“I think [the Jets organization] put so much into that one season. And obviously they made such a big move for Aaron. I think they were in a very tough spot, and I think it was a little bit of PTSD for them as well.”
Cobb also explained why he believes the Jets didn’t necessarily do the best job setting up the BYU product for success.
“Like I talk about with rookie quarterbacks being thrown into the fire,” started Cobb. “And being thrown into the fire in New York City, the biggest media market potentially in the world , and there’s so much hype for us as a team. Those crows came picking. They came picking us apart from that point on, and they had picked [at] Zach for three years. So now he’s thrusted back into this position once again. I would have loved to be able to see him sit back for an entire season and learn and see. He got to see it for a month, but I would have loved for him to have that opportunity. I think he’s very talented. I just think he hadn’t had that piece of understanding, of knowing. Hopefully things are a little different for him in Denver.”
Wilson was traded to the Broncos in the offseason. However, the drama surrounding the estranged quarterback in New York left the situation “bittersweet” for the quarterback. When asked about the situation surrounding Wilson, the former Jets wide receiver tried to downplay the incident. However, he was not impressed at how much was getting leaked to the media by the team.
“I think in the media it was more dramatic than what it actually was,” claimed the 13-year NFL veteran. “I think that they had told him they were going to trade him in the offseason. Then they benched him, and then they wanted him to play again. Then they tried to blame him for not wanting to play, but you [referring to the Jets] just told him you were going to trade him. It was a lot of politics, a lot of stuff in the media. A lot of [people] were meeting with the media and feeding them stuff.”
From the Jets’ perspective, it makes sense why the team would have looked to bench (and trade) Wilson. The former second overall pick was one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the league. Even Cobb admitted from a team perspective that teammates would hope for 15 yards (after getting the ball midfield from the defense) in order to attempt a field goal, knowing the offense was likely to stall. Because of that, it’s not hard to see why that type of frustration found its way to the media, albeit to the disdain of players and coaches.
