Taylor Lewan Fries Rodney Harrison, Says He Needs To Be ‘Tested’ For His Treatment Of Zach Wilson

What’s happened with New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson in recent days is actually quite remarkable, as he’s gone from — seemingly overnight — being one of the most mocked players in the NFL to an underdog that people seem to be rooting for.

After largely struggling in relief of the injured Aaron Rodgers against the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots, Zach Wilson played perhaps the game of his life against the defending Super Bowl champions on Sunday night despite the fact that the Jets ultimately fell to the Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 23-20.

In the game, Wilson completed 28 of 39 passes (71.7% of his throws) for 245 yards and two touchdowns. The third-year signal caller looked accurate, assured, and athletic.

And yet, despite that, NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison — further cementing the crew as inarguably the worst among the five NFL broadcasters — used his postgame interview with Chris Jones to try and goad the defensive tackle into calling Wilson “garbage.”

“Was Zach better tonight than what you anticipated he would be after watching him on tape? And you could be honest,” Harrison said.

Despite Jones not falling for Harrison’s bait, the former Pro Bowl safety — who was voted by his peers as being the dirtiest player in the league multiple times — continued to bash Wilson by calling him “garbage.”

“But watching that tape, man, you gotta look at this dude and say oh he is garbage! We should really tear him apart.”

Taylor Lewan takes issue with Rodney Harrison’s ‘garbage’ comments about Zach Wilson

Speaking to Kay Adams on Up & Adams on Monday, former Tenessee Titans offensive tackle and current podcaster Taylor Lewan took Harrison to task over his comments about Wilson and staunchly defended the quarterback — or, at the very least, the way he should be treated.

“Who I think needs to get tested right now is Rodney Harrison,” Lewan began before heaping praise on Jones for how he handled the situation.

“That was wild, am I right? Sitting there with Chris Jones — who, by the way, I’ve got to give some plaudits to Chris Jones, I am a big fan of that man both on the field and off the field, he’s a great individual and he handled that situation perfectly.”

Lewan then took issue with Harrison clearly trying to create a headline by putting a young player down. And not just a young player, but one who has obviously been struggling with confidence and just arguably played the best game of his pro career.

“Taylor Swift has brought such a wild amount of eyes to the NFL, that already gets so many eyes week in and week out. Rodney, what are we doing trying to get more clicks? I know that’s the game we’re all inevitably playing — ‘How can we get someone to say something so national media talks about whatever’s going on?’

“However, the baiting, and being like, ‘Hey, isn’t he trash! I’ve been watching that film saying he’s garbage.’ Brother, you had an amazing career. Everywhere you walk in the football world, people tip their cap to you, and they respect you. But we shouldn’t be, ever, taking down a guy like that, ever. He’s literally a kid, he’s a child, he’s 23, 24 years old… I just don’t see the reason.

After explaining that he understood what Jones meant when he said Wilson was special — not in terms of being an elite quarterback, but an extremely gifted athlete playing quarterback in the NFL — he ultimately concluded by saying: “I don’t get the shot, I do not understand it.”

Lewan certainly isn’t alone in his confusion and borderline disgust, as the majority of the NFL world has also been calling out Harrison for his comments.