Players come to Zach Wilson’s defense after Rodney Harrison’s ‘garbage’ comments about Jets QB

Zach Wilson had one of his best statistical games of his young NFL career — outside of a late, critical fumble — in the New York Jets’ 23-20 loss to Patrick Mahomes and the defending NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.

After the Chiefs went ahead 17-0 in the first quarter, Wilson and a strong defensive effort helped the Jets fight their way back into the game, eventually tying the contest at 20-20 in the third quarter.

A fourth-quarter field goal ended up being the difference in a matchup of two programs currently headed in different directions.

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Wilson completed a career-best 28 passes (out of 39) for 245 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, with a career high QB rating of 105.2.

Following the game, Mahomes told Wilson, “Play like that all year,” in a conversation caught by NBC’s cameras. He was also complimentary of Wilson during a postgame interview on the network, saying Wilson “played his tail off. He battled.”

What one member of Peacock’s Sunday night broadcast crew said about Wilson, though, has elicited plenty of strong responses supporting the Jets quarterback while also questioning the analyst’s behavior.

When interviewing Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, former NFL safety and current TV analyst Rodney Harrison asked Jones if Wilson was better in the Kansas City win than what he had seen on tape.

“If I’m being completely honest, we knew it was going to be a battle. He’s continued to get better week in and week out and he’s continued to lead week in and week out,” Jones said of Wilson, according to video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Harrison’s response has gone viral and received criticism.

“Watching that tape, man, you gotta look at this dude and say, ‘Oh, he is garbage. We should really tear him apart,’” he told Jones, in reference to Wilson.

During another portion of the interview when Jones referred to Wilson as special, Harrison interjected.

“Wait, did you say Zach Wilson is special?” Harrison asked.

After Jones responded, “yeah,” Harrison added, “I think he had a special night, but I don’t think he’s special. You’re special, because you’ve proven that over a course of time. He’s not special. It’s just saying, Chris, I’m just saying.”

In another part of the segment shared by “Sunday Night Football on NBC,” Jones further expounded on his feelings about Wilson.

“People tend to forget, he’s a first-round quarterback. No. 2. That kid is special. I’m not one to bash a kid cuz they have a couple bad games. I think it’s important to give a guy respect,” Jones said of Wilson.

This came after Harrison, during a pre-game report, reportedly said that Wilson was missing wide-open receivers in seven-on-seven warmup drills.

On Monday, Jets head coach Robert Saleh implied to reporters that Harrison reached out to Wilson after making the comments on-air.

“Rodney is a good man,” Saleh said. “... He’s handled it exactly the way he’s supposed to.”

Such criticism from the media is nothing new for Wilson — his struggles through his first 2¹⁄₄ NFL seasons have attracted plenty of ire aimed at the Utah native.

Several players, both current and former, reacted to Harrison’s comments.

Among them was Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, who faced Wilson and the Jets in Week 2, and quarterback-turned-anaylst Matt Leinart, who like Wilson was a first-round NFL draft pick.

“To me that’s a fraudulent move. ... Zach Wilson is special in his own way,” Parsons said during a video shared on X.

“You can’t sit here and say, you look at the tape and he’s garbage, like ... you can say he’s not a Mahomes tier, but you can’t say he’s not a good quarterback. He’s a starting quarterback in the NFL.”

Parsons then shared some words of encouragement for the embattled Wilson, while adding perspective on how NFL athletes can support each other.

“I hope you win. I hope you grow into the player that no one thinks you can grow into bro, because there’s a lot of people that are hating on you,” Parsons said.

“Zach is a human. We don’t use our platform to degrade other players. That’s not what we do. We use our platform to uplift people. ... Everyone in this world just needs someone to believe in them.”

“We should not be ever taking down a guy like that,” former NFL offensive lineman Taylor Lewan told Kay Adams on the “Up & Adams” show.

“What ... why would you do that?”

While not in response to Harrison’s comments on Wilson, one of sport’s most well-known athletes, LeBron James, also shared some words of encouragement on Instagram for the Jets quarterback after seeing Wilson being consoled by teammates on the sideline near the end of the game.