The ball came Garrett Wilson's way more against Minnesota in London than it had in the first four games in the season. The Jets' talented wideout still wasn't happy, but it was about the big team numbers on the scoreboard, not the smaller numbers already lining up under the different columns in his online bio.
"We put ourselves in a hole early, didn't give our defense much support, and we were fighting an uphill battle the rest of the game," Wilson told Jets, national and international reporters after the 23-17 loss to the Vikings Sunday. "And in this league, it's going to be hard to win that way. We've got to find a way to start faster, play better early."
But what about your streaks, your career high in catches, your team record for a road receiver? Those are all good things that bode well for the future for your career and your connection with Aaron Rodgers and your team, no?
Well, yes and no.
"It's about me and him getting on the same page and about him and me doing it," Wilson said. "We've got to win games. It don't matter. So do I think that can help us win? Yes. And do I think me being involved can help us win? Yes. But the ultimate goal is winning, whatever it takes to get there. That's what the hell we've got to do."
Wilson no doubt won't think more highly of this game when he watches video back at One Jets Drive on Monday, but his achievements already look good on his résumé and suggest that the explosive GW close to a winning return.
â– He had 13 receptions for 101 yards and another short TD pass from Rodgers, a 1-yarder that cut the Jets' deficit to 20-17 with 6:04 to play. Not only were his 13 grabs a career high and his first time as a pro in double digits, but they also marked the most by a Jets receiver since Jamison Crowder had 14 vs. Buffalo in the 2019 opener, and tied the franchise record for the most by any Jets receiver in a road game, matching Al Toon's 13 catches at Indianapolis in 1988.
â– Rodgers targeted Wilson 22 times, the most passes thrown to a Jets receiver in a game since at least 1997, surpassing WR Dedric Ward's 20 targets (for 8 catches, 147 yards and a TD on Christmas Eve 2000 at Baltimore), and the most in the NFL since 2015.
â– It was his first and the Jets' first 100-yard receiving game this season and the sixth of his career.
â– Wilson extended those two streaks he's been working on. He equaled the franchise mark for most consecutive multiple-catch games of 33 in a row, catching Laveranues Coles' 33-game streak from 2005-07. And "G" continues to have at least one catch in every Jets game he's played in, 39 straight through London.
"I think there's always positives to take," Rodgers said of another frustrating defeat. "It was good to get 'G' involved. We moved him around and gave him a lot of different routes. He could've had some even bigger ones, He slipped on the one that could've been a touchdown, slipped on the in-break that could've been a big one out the back."
Wilson didn't mention the slipper Tottenham Hotspur Stadium pitch and Rodgers jibed, "I don't run as fast as those guys, so it wasn't slippery for me."
But Wilson still wasn't buying that silver linings playbook angle, despite the Jets falling behind by that 17-0 score before coming within 26 yards of pulling out a 24-23 comeback win.
"At the end of the day, it wasn't enough," he said. "We can't get down 17-nothing. But once we were down 17-nothing, there's still no excuse. We've got to find a way to battle back, and I think we did our best at that. But we're not going to take any moral victories here. We've got to show up and win a game."
