Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer 2y

Jets' Zach Wilson hopes to build on improvement, 2.11 seconds at a time

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Things you can do in two seconds:

Go from 0 to 60 mph in a Tesla Roadster. Call up a website. Park yourself in the foul lane without getting whistled.

And, for Zach Wilson last week, receive a snap and deliver a pass.

The New York Jets' quarterback averaged only 2.11 seconds in time to throw during the first half last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, the fastest release time of any quarterback for the first and second quarters in Week 13, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Why is that important? In the Jets' view, it was Wilson at his best, showing proper footwork and throwing in the rhythm of the offense -- for a change. It was his best half of the season, and they hope it can be a springboard to a strong finish.

"His game was a really good step forward," coach Robert Saleh said. "Now he has to go stack it up and do it again."

Statistically, Wilson is having one of the worst seasons for a rookie starter over the last two decades, but he has the power to change the perception over the next 30 days. Starting Sunday against the New Orleans SaintsĀ (1 p.m. ET, CBS) at MetLife Stadium, he has five chances to alter the narrative and to inflate the organization with hope.

All he has to do is re-create those 30 minutes against the Eagles.

"I felt like it was the first half I finally got to play football this year and actually felt like we were doing something on offense," Wilson said. "I was getting things going and I was feeling comfortable with what we were doing on offense and things were just rolling."

Let's not send his game jersey to the Pro Football Hall of Fame just yet -- it was only two quarters of football -- but it represented progress because of his horrible starts in his first eight games. Against the Eagles, he came out with a faster tempo than in previous games, leading the offense to three straight touchdown drives in the eventual 33-18 loss.

For the most part, the ball came out as soon as he hit his back foot on his pass drop. No indecision.

His feet were settled in the pocket. No happy feet.

His eyes were focused in the right place. It was: One ... two ... three ... throw.

He completed 12 of 14 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, also running for a touchdown. He lost his rhythm in the second half, in part because the defense couldn't get off the field, but the overall takeaway still was positive. He did what the coaches have been preaching all season.

"It's OK to be a robot through the timing of a play and then, from there, go be Superman when you need to make a play work if it breaks down," Saleh said.

For a good part of the season, Wilson has suffered from a "Superman" complex, trying to leap tall buildings when all he has to do is hop over small houses. He makes an occasional spectacular play outside the pocket, but that's not how the position is played. He got away with that at BYU -- it became his calling card -- but he's not in Utah anymore.

Wilson's Total QBR -- the ESPN-generated metric that rates overall quarterback play -- is only 24.8, the fourth-lowest among all rookie starters since 2000. The three below him are Josh Rosen (23.1), Blaine Gabbert (22.1) and Jared Goff (18.3).

"It's not the time to pile on Zach and say, 'We missed it,'" former Jets quarterback Josh McCown said on ESPN's "Flight Deck" podcast. "It's not that time yet. This guy needs a complete offseason. The things you can not coach, he has. Now it's just tapping into all the other things and putting a stable situation around him so he can excel."

This will be Wilson's third start since returning from a four-game knee injury, a layoff that could turn out to be a blessing. The time away allowed him to observe and learn from the sideline without the anxiety of having to play. He was shaky in his first start after the injury, but there was noticeable improvement last week.

"The cool thing about my situation is, I'm kind of looking at it like it's my second year, kind of like I played the first season and took some games off because of injury," he said. "Now I feel like that excitement, the energy to want to play and finish this season is 100% there for me. I feel like I learned so many things and I worked to improve on them. Now I have to show them in the game. So now I feel like I'm two games into a new season."

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