Jets QB Zach Wilson was named NFL's Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week Award after helping lead the Green & White to a 27-24 overtime victory over the Titans in Week 4.
During his first NFL win, Wilson was 21 of 34 for 297 yards and 2 TDs. On his throws of 20+ yards last week, Wilson completed all four of his pass attempts for 165 yards and 1 TD, posting a perfect passer rating. Amongst the four were the longest pass of his career, a 54-yader connection to Keelan Cole, and the longest TD pass of his career, a 53-yard off-script strike to Corey Davis. He became only the fourth player in the league with two 50+ yard completions in the same game this season and the first Jets QB to do so since 2014.
"I wouldn't say we fully arrived," Wilson told reporters. "I would definitely say that this is just another puzzle piece to where we're trying to get. We've got to stack blocks. We've got to just keep getting better. We can't make the same mistakes twice."
While Wilson delivered the splash plays at critical moments, he also kept the Jets on schedule with his decision-making and patience on underneath throws.
"What gets lost in the excitement of the explosive plays that he generated was I think it was 14 of his 18 completions were [thrown] for 7 yards or less," said Jets head coach Robert Saleh. "He didn't get hit, there were balls getting in and out of his hands. He had, I don't have a QB rating in front of me or anything, but I know he was very efficient, and he can play that style of ball. And there was even more to be had in those situations, as we're all aware that third down to close out the game, the shallow cross to [Ryan Griffin] to close out the game, there are opportunities for even more, which he'll get better at.
"But at the same time, everyone saw the creativity and the off-schedule stuff that is getting all the attention, but that represented four of his completions. He's in really good head space, his mindset's in the right spot in terms of he knows he can be even better and those are things he'll continue to grow on."
Wilson and the Jets practiced Thursday in Florham Park and are scheduled to fly to London overnight. Then they'll resume game preparations Friday in England before facing the Atlanta Falcons Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Falcons DC Dean Pees said of Wilson: "The guy's a good athlete, the guy has a really, really strong arm. He really makes plays out of the pocket very, very well. He makes things difficult in the rush and when he gets out of the pocket, he's extremely dangerous."
