It was the trip seen-around-the-NFL on Sunday, and for Boomer Esiason, he was “shocked” Zach Wilson’s stumble even made it to air.
When discussing the Jets’ 32-6 blowout loss to the Bills, Esiason said CBS’ decision to run footage of Wilson’s on-field gaffe caught him by surprise given the current state of Gang Green.
As a co-analyst of the network’s “The NFL Today,” Esiason explained Monday he “can see everything that’s going on at the game” during viewers’ commercial breaks, with one of those in-game moments being the Jets quarterback’s tumble.
“We all see the shot of Zach Wilson falling, and, I’ve got to be honest, I think we’ve all done this, believe it or not. Maybe they just didn’t catch it in the moment when we were playing, I think I probably did a couple of times,” Esiason said on WFAN.
“Under the current set of circumstances, and under what’s going on with the Jets and what’s going on with Zach, we were all wondering, ‘Are they going to show that?’”
Esiason said he kiddingly requested a Wilson-centric package from a producer that would include the fall, noting it “was representative of what we’re watching and what we’re seeing,” but did not plan to showcase at halftime because “why rub salt in the wounds?”
Wilson’s embarrassing moment made it to the game broadcast instead.
“I have to tell you, I was a little bit shocked that they ran it in the body of the game, that they actually showed it,” Esiason said.
“… It’s bad enough as it is, I know what he’s going through, and I know how hard it is for him as a human being to deal with this.”
Though Wilson chuckled over the incident, things took a more serious turn in the second half of Sunday’s divisional matchup, when he was benched for Tim Boyle.
Boyle, a 29-year-old NFL journeyman, will start Friday when the Jets host the Dolphins.
Wilson, the Jets’ second overall pick in 2021, was set to backup Aaron Rodgers this season before the four-time league MVP went down with an Achilles injury in the opener.
The Jets’ offense has continued to struggle, with the 24-year-old Wilson putting much of the blame on himself Sunday.
“We need to take accountability, and that starts with me — and I’m not getting it done,” said Wilson, who went 7-for-15 for 81 yards and one touchdown and an interception.
With Boyle set to start on Black Friday and Wilson dropped to third string behind Trevor Siemian, it’s quite possible the sun could be setting on the Wilson era in New York.
Esiason even suggested Monday the Jets “let him go.”
“Let him see if he can go somewhere else, maybe not this year, but maybe next year, but I would get him out of the building,” Esiason said.
The Jets enter Friday’s game vs. the Dolphins at 4-6.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
