Zach Wilson knows how to lock in, and the second-year New York Jets quarterback wanted the world to know it. During a session with the media on Tuesday at training camp, Wilson dished on his method of staying focused, especially when he is a trending topic almost weekly before preseason.
“I don’t have social media on my phone. I want to be locked into what’s going on at the field and in our meeting rooms,” said Wilson. “I keep my mind here with the guys and in the playbook and with our coaches. I don’t ever just scroll down social media.”
#Jets QB Zach Wilson (@ZachWilson) stays off social media during season, ‘just limiting voices I really need to hear & right now its hearing my coaches, QBs, & really my teammates, even parents sometimes can be a distraction.’ You don’t say? Lol 🧐😭🤣 🎥 @nyjets #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/q7TKY1T0QM
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) August 3, 2022
The summer resulted in a rumor that he hooked up with his mother’s best friend, which was started by his ex-girlfriend, Abbey Gile. Wilson was quiet about the innuendo until he tapped back in before training camp, only to leave an epic tweet that took the internet by storm.
“Took the boys to @gozzerranchclub in Idaho before camp! Poor cell service…what I miss?” Wilson tweeted mid-July to the applause of bros around the world.
However, now that he wants to be focused on guiding the Jets into a better season and chance for a postseason future, Wilson is employing one of his tricks to stay ready; deleting social media apps.
Wilson said that this process of cleansing his phone of the omnipresent distractions of social media at the start of training camp began in college at Brigham Young University in Utah.
Zach Wilson says he deletes the social media apps on his phone at the start of training camp. His way of blocking out the noise. #Jets pic.twitter.com/rs7vTfdpuW
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) August 2, 2022
“For me, it just comes down to limiting what voices I really need to hear and, right now, it’s here, hearing what my coaches have to say, what the other QBs have to say, and what my teammates are thinking on every single play,” Wilson said. “Even parents sometimes can be a distraction.”
That goes double if you are Wilson’s parents, as they are the distraction. Zach’s mom, Lisa Wilson, has had to endure the constant pressure to reveal if her son slept with her bestie and also the constant addition of her and her friends to everyone’s potential online dating menu, even sports analyst Colin Cowherd’s.
From showcasing her lovely friends on social media to checking reporters stalking her at the gym, Lisa Wilson is the new Hot Topic, and not the mall variety.
Zach Wilson with a funny and slick answer on how he deals with the daily scrutiny:
“Who’s scrutinizing me? I don’t read any of you guys’ stuff. … Only Flacco scrutinizes me.”
Says he doesn’t have social media apps on his phone during the season. #Jets pic.twitter.com/HFUhjiGPQL
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) August 2, 2022
Even his father got into the Wilson-bro exuberance when he and his son were approached by a fan named Sebastian Garcia, who posted the interaction on Twitter. Allegedly, the dad said, “say MILF on three,” as an alternative to “say cheese.”
Young Wilson has been using this method of noise cancellation for years but doesn’t remember who actually advised on its effectiveness; he is a sponge soaking up the game as he moves.
“I think it’s advice you get everywhere,” he said.
With the season looming, reports are that Wilson struggled a bit in OTAs, especially in red zone offense scenarios. Wilson knows nothing is brighter than New York City’s lights. The right move is to shut down his social media usage when the world wants to see if he’s messing with his mom’s friend more than his offensive abilities.
