The efficiency expert
Rookie QB Wilson has clean performance in Jets debut against Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Three points, two drives and one solid debut for Zach Wilson.
The No. 2 overall draft pick was efficient in his first NFL preseason game, going 6 of 9 for 63 yards and leading the New York Jets to a field goal against the Giants’ backups on defense in a 12-7 victory Saturday night.
“I thought it was good,” Wilson said. “Of course, there’s still things to clean up, but it was a great experience.”
Robert Saleh, making his head coaching debut for the Jets, pulled Wilson and the projected offensive starters — as expected — after the second series stalled early in the second quarter.
“You just want him to get his feet wet, show that the game’s not too big for him, which he obviously showed,” Saleh said. “This young man’s potential is through the roof.”
Fans were back in Metlife Stadium for a Giants home game for the first time since Dec. 29, 2019, because of the coronavirus pandemic — but with Daniel Jones
and most of their team’s starters sitting out, the main attraction was Wilson on the other side.
The Jets won the coin toss, but Saleh deferred and put his defense on the field to start. After they held the Giants to a three-and-out, Wilson jogged onto the field.
He was 2 for 4 for 18 yards,
including a 9-yard completion to Corey Davis on third-and-6 while marching the Jets downfield. But the drive fizzled after Wilson threw incomplete to Davis, and the Jets got a 30-yard field goal by Chris Naggar to take a 3-0 lead.
On his second series, Wilson looked comfortable while not making any high-risk throws. He led the Jets to three first downs.
The Jets got down to the Giants 42 on Wilson’s 13-yard pass to Tyler Kroft on third-and-14. Saleh opted to go, but Ty Johnson was stuffed for a 1-yard loss to end the drive — and the night for Wilson. Mike White replaced him.
“He looked comfortable, especially on third down,” Saleh said. “He made some good throws, directed the offense really well, got in and out of the huddle and we moved it very well for those first two series. So it was a good first day.”
With Joe Judge holding out Jones, entering his third NFL season and second as the full-time starter, along with most of the starters, Mike Glennon got the start for the Giants. The 31-year-old backup, with his sixth NFL team, was 3 of 7 for 20 yards in three series before being replaced by Clayton Thorson in the second quarter. Glennon’s last series ended with Corey Clement losing a fumble near the goal line.
Thorson threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Damion Willis with
7:05 left. The drive was set up by Rodarius Williams’ fumble recovery and 29-yard return after TJ Brunson knocked the ball out of Kenny Yeboah’s hands.
“I think as a team, we started slow on both sides of the ball,” Judge said. “And I saw some improvement as we went.”
Giants running back Sandro Platzgummer, an Austrian who spent last season with New York as part of the NFL’S International Player Pathway Program, had the longest play of the game: a 48-yard scamper in the fourth quarter.
Giants’ Brunson, Kalu suffer major injuries: Second-year Giants linebacker TJ Brunson and defensive back Joshua Kalu sustained major injuries. The team announced Sunday that Brunson tore the ACL in his left knee. A seventh-round pick last year out of South Carolina, Brunson was hurt late in the fourth quarter while rushing the passer. Kalu, who started because the Giants rested their starting secondary, tore a pectoral muscle, the team said. The fourth-year veteran was signed as a free agent in the offseason. Both injuries normally end a player’s season.