WFAN’s Tiki Barber was fuming on Monday over a report that Jets quarterback Zach Wilson is “reluctant to step back in” as the team’s starter.
The Jets have pushed back on the report and head coach Robert Saleh told reporters that Wilson walked into his office and asked to be reinstated as the starting QB.
But Barber was beside himself over the idea that an NFL player would decline the chance to start for his team.
As part of his on-air tirade, Barber called it a “puss move” and said the Jets should “cut his ass” if the report was true.
“It is hard enough just to get here. It is a complete other level to actually have some level of success…and then there is staying here,” Barber said during Monday’s “Evan & Tiki: show. “And the only way to stay here in the NFL is to go above and beyond, even when it sucks. Whatever they ask you to do, you go do. For Zach Wilson to allegedly have some doubt about wanting to play should invalidate him from being in the NFL. Period.
“If you’re gonna tell your team — I don’t care how they treated you — if you’re gonna tell the team that employs you, and is trying to give you another opportunity, ‘No thanks,’ you have sacrificed your right to be in this league.”
The latest drama in Jets Country started on Monday when The Athletic reported the team was looking to make another quarterback change after Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian struggled in Sunday’s loss.
However, Wilson was reluctant to play, according to the report, which later clarified that it stemmed from concern over injury risk and that Aaron Rodgers reached out to advise him to reconsider.
“There are 150 guys sitting on their couches that played at small D-I colleges…that would cut off their left pinky finger to come play in the National Football League,” Barber said during the program. “And you’re gonna say ‘No thanks?’ Come on Zach, I hope this isn’t true.”
Wilson had been relieved as the Jets’ starter after the team started the 4-6 this season and the former No. 2 overall pick had more interceptions than touchdown throws.
The news was met with excitement by Jets fans, but it was short-lived as Boyle and Siemian have done little to help turn the team’s fortunes around on the field.
Saleh has been reluctant to say who would get the start this week when the Jets host the Houston Texans on Sunday.
“I want to make sure nobody is acting emotionally,” Saleh told reporters. “I want to make sure we’re making the right decision for this organization moving forward and making sure the guy who is best ready to play is on the football field. … It’s who gives us the best chance to win — that simple.”