If quarterbacks assume Jack Bauer’s role in the television world, then wide receivers cannot help but draw comparisons to “Desperate Housewives.” And the comparison runs deeper than the memorable 2004 Terrell Owens-Nicollette Sheridan “Monday Night Football” intro piece that rocked the world.
Emotionally screaming and gesturing like there’s no tomorrow are just a couple of characteristics many modern NFL receivers showcase. For a good chunk of these ultra-athletic, high-flying weapons, wanting the ball isn’t just the goal; it’s life.
So much so that not even writing a book after a single pro season is out of bounds. (I have an idea: Let’s throw Wayne Chrebet the damn ball instead.)
Each position can somewhat compare to a TV character or show, really. Just take long-snappers as an example. If Thomas Hennessy isn’t Fox Mulder on a football field, then I don’t know who is. (Or, perhaps Aaron Rodgers belongs in that category for oh-so-obvious reasons; the truth is indeed out there.)
In any event, New York Jets weapon Garrett Wilson is another young stud whose diva status flirts with the recognizable “Desperate Housewives” category.
Although the brilliant wideout cannot hold a “diva” candle to the likes of many outlandish pass-catchers before him—the aforementioned Owens, our favorite in Keyshawn Johnson, Randy Moss, Michael Irvin, Chad Johnson, Andre Rison, and, oh dear football god, Antonio Brown—he features some moments of the such.
The Jets’ entertaining 32-25 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 15 played host to one of Wilson’s rare outbursts.
Garrett Wilson’s sideline explosion
Trailing 13-7 to open the second half, the Jets were faced with a third-and-9 situation in the red zone. A Rodgers sack forced Jeff Ulbrich to send out the field goal unit.
Wilson wasn’t shy about letting his emotions explode on the sideline following the failed third-down play, as seen in the broadcast angle below:
Wilson motioned from left to right, turning the 2×2 look into a 3×1 bunch. Usually, in that case, the offense is looking for a man coverage. Also, usually, on this area of the field, that’s what you’re going to get—either man-to-man defense or some variation of a match zone that works in tighter spaces.
Lip readers, such as SNY’s Connor Hughes, were right to lay out the verbiage used.
“If it’s one-on-one, throw the fade,” Wilson emotionally said after the Jets’ failed third-down attempt.
(Coincidentally, the thumbnail of Hughes’s video isn’t doing Wilson’s primary-care physician any favors when he or she views him from afar, but that’s hardly the point.)
What we know is Wilson erupted on the sideline. Something caused him to go boom—like Coca-Cola with Mentos.
What issue had him so up in arms? Naturally, the first potential culprit is the most recent play before the action occurred.
The third-and-9 situation
A third-and-9 situation screamed pass, and that’s exactly what Todd Downing‘s unit did. The results were ugly, with no separation downfield, a quarterback flushing right, and an interior Jaguars defensive lineman picking up the unconventional/out-of-structure sack.
Yet, I’m not so sure this was the play that had Wilson so crazed on the sideline.
Wilson spoke about it with the media this past week in Florham Park, NJ, per the Jets’ official PR transcripts and ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
“Sometimes it’s as simple as—if they’re going to play man coverage, one-on-one on receivers with their DBs, they’re saying that they trust their DBs,” Wilson said. “If you throw the fade, it’s showing that you trust your receivers.”
I agree with that sentiment. Interestingly, I also believe Rodgers has taken more than his fair of shots downfield this season.
For any Jets fan who watched Rodgers this year, the contrast between his aggressive attitude and Zack Wilson‘s (over the previous three years) is as stark as Archie Bunker and George Jefferson. Say what you want about his overall play, but Rodgers has taken his shots when 1v1s are presented.
Zach, on the other hand, could not get out of his own way in that regard, with much of the responsibility simultaneously falling on the quarterback himself and the coaching staff’s conservative vision.
Earlier plays?
Nevertheless, perhaps Garrett’s frustration stemmed from an earlier play. Two plays prior to the outburst, the Jets ran a jet-motion touch pass to Davante Adams and second-and-9.
Nope; that’s not it.
Let’s see if our detective work progresses when we dig into the first-down play on this sequence:
Bingo.
Although it’s an Isaiah Davis in-between-the-tackles rush attempt, carefully watch Garrett Wilson at the bottom of the screen. It’s a play we have seen the Rodgers-led Jets utilize consistently (first spotted in the 2023 preseason matchup against the Giants, the game that debuted the Hall of Fame QB in Gotham Green).
More of a professional-type RPO, Rodgers has to decide pre-snap whether he’s going to give it or pass it. In this spot, of all things are equal, I’d lean towards Garrett’s view—that attacking the 1v1 situation is the better option. The odds the Jets will pick up decent yardage against such a stacked box are slim.
That doesn’t, however, give Wilson an excuse to become unhinged. The quarterback needs to be the undisputed leader of the offense, just as the head coach must be the unquestioned leader of the entire roster. Exploding like this doesn’t solve anything.
Now, we must be careful here. Remember, Rodgers showed clear frustration after the third-down sack, quickly looking up to the Jets’ sideline once it concluded. There’s still an outside chance that Wilson’s outburst was in response to Rodgers’s initial beef.
Or, perhaps the four-time NFL MVP was more angry with the situation and/or frustrated with the absence of defensive holding or illegal contact. After all, the Jags secondary mugged Adams and Wilson worse than the “old bag” in “Seinfeld” for her infamous marble rye. (Schnitzer’s, for those interested in assuming dessert-hero status this holiday season.)
When analyzing football, here’s the only certainty: We only know what we officially know. Without physically being in that huddle, and/or on that sideline, and/or in that locker room, all we can do is theorize.
Yet, I’d place a pretty strong bet that the first-down play was the moment a fire sparked Wilson from underneath. Plus, it was the defensive pass interference against Wilson that got the Jets down into the red zone, to begin with, so it’s a good bet that he was already heated.
High-ceiling, high-precision vibe
Look, Garrett Wilson is a damn smart individual and football player. I have consistently lobbied for him to take the majority of the snaps in the slot—with Aaron Rodgers—due to his on-field and in-action smarts.
He reads defenses better than any weapon on the roster (pre-Davante Adams acquisition, perhaps), and the only thing standing in the way of Rodgers-Wilson becoming an elite QB-WR duo is … time.
The Rodgers system is a high-ceiling yet high-precise one. Let’s not so easily dismiss all of the miscommunication issues the Jets offense dealt with this season. Some of it dealt with Rodgers’s poor play—much of that due to his old-age injuries—but the bulk of it dealt with the throw and pass-catchers not being precisely on the same page.
In this system, the difference between historic success and universal disaster is so fine that not even the “Desperate Housewives” could be mentioned. A 9-route, for instance, could be called (either in the huddle or at the line) yet yield several different results (streak, skinny vert, long fade, etc.) in real-time.
Why this is the case is simple yet also so complex: It all deals with defensive leverage.
The precision factors in when understanding that both the quarterback and his weapons must simultaneously read the same defensive leverage within the span of seconds (or even miloseconds).
“We’ve struggled in the red zone this season,” Wilson told the media on Wednesday. “I feel like sometimes we overcomplicate the game of football that we play. Me and Davante [Adams] pride ourselves on a lot of different things as far as playing receiver, and we were brought here for a reason.”
Moreover, the fact that the Jets rank tied for 21st in the NFL in red-zone efficiency surely does not help matters.
“If we’re struggling in the red zone, I feel like [the fade] is a safe route to go as far as that. I saw the camera caught that, and I’m sorry they did — whoever may be offended. But, yeah, I play this game a little differently.”
The full film breakdown can be seen below:
What now?
For the most part, Garrett, I agree with your words. In that situation, the first-and-10 situation referenced above, I’m also in agreement with you—that Rodgers should have opted for the 1v1 fade.
Here’s the rub: Explosions like this don’t help anything or anybody. While I understand the emotion that goes into this thing, and it’s yet another reminder of how much the Ohio State product cares about winning, sideline theatrics don’t help the winning cause.
The single thing that has hurt the Jets organization the most in recent years is simple: a lack of leadership. An absence in the leadership department means there’s no real structure or hierarchy from which to draw, especially when things get rough.
Proper accountability is fleeting, and orders begin to lose meaning no matter where one turns.
Just as the owner sits atop the organization hierarchy, so does the quarterback regarding his offense. Emotional outbursts are understood to a degree, especially once one knows these actions come from a solid foundation, but outbursts still, indeed, do rock any chance a football team has to feature a sound hierarchical structure.
Here’s the thing: Garrett Wilson already knows this; nobody needs to tell him.
But hey, I’m more than happy to dig into this situation if it helps fans better understand why the New York Jets’ stud wideout cares so damn much about winning football games.
