On Monday, a somewhat bizarre report emerged from TheAthletic.com suggesting that the Jets want to turn back to quarterback Zach Wilson but that Wilson is reluctant to play.
On Tuesday, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers addressed the situation in his weekly appearance with Pat McAfee.
“When you use sources and whether intentional or unintentional try to assassinate someone’s character like that report does for Zach, I have a real hard time with that,” Rodgers said. “You’re basically saying that this kid is quitting on the team and doesn’t want to play and is giving the middle finger to the organization.”
Rodgers had an issue both with the reporting and with whoever leaked the information.
“What is your impetus, what is your motivation to try and bury someone like that?” Rodgers said. “And that’s a problem with the organization. You know, we need to get to the bottom of whatever this is coming from and put a stop to it privately, because there’s no place in a winning culture where — and this is not the only time. There’s been a bunch of other leaks.”
But there are always leaks. With every team. In New York, it’s even worse. Always has been. Always will be.
Still, Rodgers doesn’t like it.
“I think it’s chickenshit at its core, and I think it has no place in a winning organization,” Rodgers said.
This assumes the Jets are a winning organization. They’re still not. And they haven’t been for a while.
As Big Cat says, dysfunctional teams do dysfunctional things. In this case, it was dysfunctional for someone to share with reporters the notion that Wilson, who possibly was just venting steam with teammates, suggested he doesn’t want to play if/when he gets asked to return to action.
Wilson was never going to refuse to play. He might not have been thrilled about the prospect of being asked to preside over garbage time when the team is ready to throw him out with the trash, but he was never going to say, “No.” That’s not how it works.
To assume actual reluctance from idle griping that happens among co-workers in every business setting is a stretch. In this case, it cries out for something deeper and more nuanced than repeating information from someone who might have heard Wilson complaining.
Finally, here’s the key point for situations like this, where a counterintuitive motive is attributed to a newsmaker. The report should never be published without at least attempting to get comment from the subject of the report.
As a wise man once told me, if you’re going to report that the Easter Bunny doesn’t like chocolate, you’d better ask the Easter Bunny for comment.