Namath reacts to Wilson's performance vs. Chiefs

Joe Namath. Lannis Waters / USA TODAY NETWORK

Joe Namath reacts to Zach Wilson's performance vs. Chiefs

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 10/2/23

New York Jets legend and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath reacted Monday to how much-maligned Jets signal-caller Zach Wilson played in Sunday's 23-20 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

"Well, he played well," Namath said about Wilson during a Monday afternoon appearance on the ESPN New York "The Michael Kay Show," according to Rich Cimini of ESPN. "He played pretty darn good, and that's what we want to see. Believe me, now I am a Jets fan. I want us to do well. I get fed up whenever something goes wrong, of course, and I'm tired of losing, but Zach did some positive things."

Namath generated headlines and went viral last Monday following the Jets' 15-10 home loss to the New England Patriots when he said he'd seen "enough" of Wilson playing for New York.

"Broadway Joe" also ripped Jets head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas for sticking with Wilson and for not "picking the right players."

Wilson declined to fire back at Namath later in the week and instead said he and the offense had to do whatever possible against the Chiefs to prove the living legend wrong. The second overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft then produced arguably the best performance, to date, of his pro career when he completed 28-of-39 pass attempts for 245 yards with two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a gutsy two-point conversion:

We are tied on Sunday night! @ZachWilson

: #KCvsNYJ on NBC⁰: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/cLJQ8MOopx pic.twitter.com/mCnc3Gs1qb
— NFL (@NFL) October 2, 2023

However, Wilson also fumbled the ball away in the fourth quarter when the Jets were trailing 23-20. Their offense never got the ball back before time expired.

"We know he has athletic ability," Namath added about Wilson. "We know he has good feet. He can run around and we know he has a strong arm. And he showed that again. Yeah, he showed it yesterday. But it's the mistakes that hurt us a bit."

Per ESPN stats, Wilson began Monday evening ranked 27th out of 33 qualified players with a 38.7 adjusted QBR and 31st with a 58.5% completion percentage on the campaign.

He's thrown four touchdown passes with four interceptions across four games but will look to build upon his "Sunday Night Football" outing when he and the 1-3 Jets play at the 1-3 Denver Broncos this coming Sunday afternoon.

More must-reads: