If there’s one thing Robert Saleh wants Zach Wilson to take away from his four-interception performance against the Patriots, it’s that he doesn’t have to go for the big play every single possession.
He’d rather his rookie check down to his running backs at the line of scrimmage for a few yards and concede the drive rather than lob passes for opponents to snatch away.
“It’s just having confidence that it’s OK to play a boring game of football. That’s really it,” Saleh said of Wilson postgame. “He is an electric dude and he’s competitive as crap and he wants to win so bad, But sometimes it’s OK to be boring. That’s probably the biggest lesson from this one.”
Wilson finished with 210 yards but threw four interceptions in an ugly 25-9 loss to the Patriots in Week. The rookie forced a lot of passes, missed some throws and gave New England a lot more opportunities to put points on the board. The Patriots scored 17 of their 25 points directly off Wilson interceptions. That swing can decide games, which Wilson acknowledged that after the game.
“I’ve got to do a better job executing,” he said. “Decision making, just being smart with the ball. Turnovers are a big deciding factor and I thought our defense played well. I just have to do a better job executing.”
When directly asked about playing “boring football” or if he forced passes, Wilson denied either were the reasons he turned the ball over four times. Wilson claimed the lack of rhythm as a result of the interceptions compounded the poor game. The team only touched the ball four times in the first quarter thanks to the turnovers.
“It really goes down to I have to make better throws and better decisions,” Wilson said, “And just getting on the same page with my guys.”
