That was a different Zach Wilson quarterbacking the Jets during their upset win over the Texans on Sunday.
A looser quarterback. A freer quarterback. A quarterback playing like he had nothing to lose.
Most importantly, a quarterback who resembled his No. 2 overall draft selection and the prolonged faith his coaching staff put in him.
Wilson played like the handcuffs were finally taken off and he let it rip, delivering a performance that was unrecognizable from what prompted him to be benched again three weeks ago.
That energy was contagious and the Jets’ offense fed off of it, playing with rejuvenated life and moxie after weeks of zombie-like sleepwalking.
“I think more than anything it was his mental toughness,” Randall Cobb, who caught his first touchdown as a Jet in the win, said on a Zoom call Monday afternoon. “Just to bounce back and come back given an opportunity, and make the most out of it. He made some checks in the game and just played his brand of football.
“You could tell he was having fun, enjoying himself. I feel like that pressure that he’s been carrying, it didn’t seem to be there. It was nice to see him playing loose and free and having fun, going out there and slinging it around.”
Can pressure-free Wilson show up again, or was it a mirage providing false hope?
That confidence he carried on Sunday is likely the most stunning element of his performance, given what he’s been through the last few weeks.
He had endured constant booing from fans, incessant calls for his benching — which came to fruition for unheralded Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemien — and reports that he was hesitant to even take the ball back as the starter.
“I’ll always go back to his confidence,” linebacker and team captain C.J. Mosley said. “That’s the first thing you want to see out of a quarterback. From the start to the finish, you just saw his confidence with the play-calling, with him throwing the ball, when he tucked it in and got out of the pocket, he wasn’t second-guessing himself, and he got the ball to his playmakers.”
Perhaps the threat of a benching, which he’s endured three times in the last two seasons, no longer presented a worry for him. Perhaps it was a desire to perform for his teammates, not necessarily to impress team brass, knowing there is a likely chance he won’t be on the Jets next year. Perhaps it was a last-stand attitude, not wanting to pull any punches in what could have been his last shot to prove his NFL worth.
Regardless, Wilson played like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He played like the daring gunslinger who had so many so high on his potential coming out of BYU, not the indecisive and shackled quarterback terrified to make a mistake.
That fear of disaster, driven into him by his coaching staff, transformed into courage to fire away and take risks in pursuit of big plays, at least for one game.
His 75.0 percent completion percentage and 117.9 passer rating were both career highs, and his 301 passing yards were third-most of his career.
Even more important, his 8.4 yards per attempt were his most of the season, unafraid to throw the ball downfield.
“I felt like he was extremely decisive,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “He played fast. There were a lot of ‘oh, crap’ moments where I felt like he stayed within the moment and made things work. He made a lot of things happen on his own, off schedule.
“He was really, really good. I said it after the game, and after watching the tape and watching it in more detail, it was the best game that he’s played, in my opinion. … Whatever he ate Saturday night, just go do that again.”
The biggest test of Wilson’s renewed mindset occurred after his biggest mistake of the game.
Leading 14-0 in the third quarter, he fumbled while scrambling to give the Texans the ball in strong field position. Houston subsequently scored, cutting the deficit to 14-6.
But Wilson, as he had so many times in the past, did not crumble after a potentially back-breaking gaffe.
He instead ripped off a 10-play touchdown drive, capping it off with a touchdown pass to Breece Hall.
“The most impressive drive that we were able to string together was the one after the fumble,” Saleh said. “They scored, then we came back with a 10-play drive, that puts it back to a two-score lead. Just thought it was composed, bounced back, stayed aggressive and stayed confident.
“He played for his teammates and he played his heart out. The kid just keeps bouncing back. His resilience, he’s a very impressive young man in that regard.”