Zach Wilson Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

'MNF': Troy Aikman rips Jets quarterback Zach Wilson

Troy Aikman stated the obvious on Monday night.

The "Monday Night Football" color commentator ripped Jets quarterback Zach Wilson following an early poor series by the third-year quarterback.

Aikman criticized Wilson for missing an easy throw on a second-and-6 on the opening drive. 

"When you evaluate Zach Wilson and the things where he's got to be better, this is it. First throw of the game, and this is a layup. And you got to hit these layups. He's got two guys to the boundary, he can pick any one of them and it's an easy completion and he airmails 'em... He just misses entirely too many of these easy throws for an NFL quarterback." 

Aikman was just as critical of Wilson on his next attempt on the following play. He failed to recognize safety Alohi Gilman while targeting wide receiver Allen Lazard, and Lazard got blasted on the play.

"You got to see what's out in front of these receivers, and there was a day back when I was playing; you make too many of those throws, and you're not gonna have that receiver for the rest of the game," Aikman said.

The Jets offense was unable to do anything with the ball after the defense forced a three-and-out on the game's opening possession. New York matched Los Angeles with a three-and-out of its own, and the Chargers broke a scoreless tie with a punt return for a touchdown on the next play.

The offensive sequence was another exhibit in the case against Wilson as an NFL starting quarterback. Not that anyone doesn't already know that, including the Jets.

Wilson's play is largely why they traded for Aaron Rodgers, who tore his Achilles in Week 1, during the offseason. The Jets (4-3) have won in spite of their quarterback this season, which made the team's decision to not trade for a quarterback at the trade deadline a huge miss. Could the Jets not have found a sixth-rounder to trade to Arizona for Joshua Dobbs?

Instead, they're stuck talking themselves into Wilson being able to lead them to the playoffs, and most of us, including Aikman, know how that's going to play out.

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