 they just dominate the landscape and the conversation and you know big story reported yesterday that Zach Wilson was hesitant to take the starting job then was a talked into it so to speak and the person at the forefront of the story is our former colleague now with the athletic Diana Rossini and she's nice enough to join us now Diana it's Michael Don and Peter how you doing a lot has gone on but you know I used to be a reporter Diana and when I had a story cold and then somebody came out and said it wasn't true it just infuriated me so I'm Roger's kind of saying that you know he never spoke to Zach or anything like that what's what's your whole take on on the jets response to what what you reported yesterday I think it just has to go out there and deny it the way Robert solid did yesterday the way Aaron Rogers did today although they didn't actually really deny this the accuracy of the story it was just more about their issue with the leaks that are coming out and that information that's getting out of the building you guys have been playing Rogers interview with the Pat McAfee show and when you really look to what he's talking about he's mad at the jets right now that something like this that can make a player look bad would even be given to reporters and that reflects the state of the team and I think right now everyone's trying their best to try to figure out you know what was it a player was it a coach was it a trainer was it somebody that works in security I can just tell you that it was multiple people that are very aware because the entire building has been aware of this for a week now that that Wilson has had reluctant to wanting to go back in there he expressed it openly to people and from his side of it I think you guys have I'm sure discussed it about how you know maybe he has the right to stand up for himself because of the fear of being injured he knows he's not going to be with the New York Jets Jets once he was benched once he was benched it was over for Zach Wilson in New York and I understand from his perspective of why he was perhaps contemplating going back in there but then of course you have that other side so you know the Jets wanted Aaron Rogers to talk to him coach him up a little bit about why you need to you know make the right decision here for the team because they need them they in their opinion Zach Wilson is the best quarterback in that building at this moment and they want to put him back in there Diana that's the one thing he did refute though he says he never spoke to Zach or that he was ever told to speak to Zach so I guess that's the one thing that he did say that that you were misleading at so okay he doesn't want to he doesn't want to share that he has that much influence and power than it also confirms my report but he was told to speak with him last Wednesday and he spoke with him yesterday about changing his mind and I was actually even told that it didn't even work initially that Zach said thanks but no thanks this is what I'm going to do moving forward now someone from Zach's side of this did reach out that if he was going to be named a starting quarterback he's going to get out there and play and he's now changed his mind on this and we'll be doing it so Michael you just mentioned that you've done this before it's it's frustrating because I don't think people can see through it that's where it's frustrating right but the just know I know Zach Wilson knows I know and Aaron Rogers once again has gone on television to work for you a report that's accurate and he knows it and he just won't admit it so I know he wants people to put their name on it but he can also just acknowledge that yeah they could have easily come out here and just said yeah he was contemplating it how could he not and well used to call me Diana is that when I had a story called that somebody leaked to me and then the person that leaked it to me so well that's not true I mean that happens to yeah yeah the jets are well aware I was reporting right and and very well so Diana here's the part that I've been sort of a miffed by like I sort of feel like if the angle Zach Wilson was taking was I'm tired of playing games with you guys you bring me in you take me out it's not fair it's not reasonable do what you want I'm moving on I feel like that sort of plays one way but then what we heard about like he's scared of getting hurt plays another much worse way was it a mix of both things or was it really just he's scared of getting hurt from what you know yeah it's both it's both it's how he's been treated by the jets what he knows to be his future with the organization mixed with the risk that he would have to take going back in there for a team that no longer wanted him no longer wants him and made that pretty clear and then to have to go out there behind an offensive line that that isn't great and they're aware of that and so the reason why this story I think is so sensitive at this point yes there's a factor of what Aaron brought up which is Zach's character but really but this isn't about Zach Wilson there's not the New York Jets this is about what's happening in this building at this moment the decisions they made at the quarterback position a lack of decisions so everyone can get mad about the reporting and the source thing and all this stuff this isn't any person in the media's fault these decisions were not made by us the athletic didn't pick this they chose this they did this so I think for Zach Wilson he's unfortunately just a small piece of really just a gigantic dysfunctional organization at this moment so let me let me go further than beyond the story so the you're talking about how dysfunctional it seems and from the outside looking in and you're you're more in than we are it does look dysfunctional do you believe that if they end up 4 and 13 that they're gonna be changes are they gonna run it back and just gamble on Aaron Rodgers the sense I get is that as long as Aaron wants the people in place to be where they're at the coordinators the head coach the GM if he wants that ownership will will then agree to that Aaron Rodgers has all the power in the New York Jets organization amazing if he wants it they'll do it now it's your sense Diana there's no like is your sense that this power that Rodgers has is being forced or manipulated by Rodgers or just the power just comes from the fact that he just gives them the best chance to win and they have no other choice no I don't think he walks around with a crown on his head like he's the king of New York I think he's respected because of the caliber of player he is and his understanding of what a culture should be a winning culture what it should look like compared to what it's been you know or is that I have been told about how Aaron Rodgers has affected this Jets organization in a positive way is overwhelming I've never covered a player that has changed the way people operate on a daily basis by him just being in a room and that's credit to what he can do and this is why he gets all the respect and why everyone is making so many excuses for some of the things he says and some of the shots he takes because he's that good of a football player and he has this magnetic way to be to lead and they need him for that reason and as long as Aaron in New York they're winning in their minds because of this effect and this entire year was built around him and now obviously with him being gone since week one you see what happens when an entire organization built something around just one person it completely falls apart so the hope is that he gets healthy he gets ready to go he comes back next year and everything that we saw this past season in terms of the staff and the way it looks will be in place for next year and they'll just run this back now one thing that he said today to McAfee that kind of struck me as a former reporter you know it's wrong to assassinate Zach Wilson's character because of a source I find that laughable I mean I blame the source I did agree with Rogers on that you know your source and put your name to it if you really want to assassinate his character but it's not up to you to protect Zach Wilson's character that stuff was talked to you told to you by somebody so do you when you hear him say stuff like that well what's your reaction Diana yeah I work for the athletic which is owned by the I can't just take the word or just a text message or one quick phone call or just one person close to Zach Wilson or one person close to the jet it doesn't work like that and I think sometimes people forget because there is so much bad journalism out there right now that it's hard to trust but I can tell you I've been working at the athletic for three months it takes a lot to get a story published in terms of the screening of it and the people that have to be part of it and so and it can't be low-level people it has to be people that are in the situation that are close to the situation has to be multiple and and that's why I stand by my reporting because as you know we have all the information and all the main players are aware of it all I can do is just report what I know and that's what I've done and look the Jeff have to do what they have to do for the to clean this up because it looks bad right now as they're trying to just get through this regular season so they can just get to next year have you been able to glean anything about what the hell has really happened at quarterback beyond Rogers because Diana we talked to Coach Sala every week and kind of try to push what exactly is happening why are we not able to get like any sort of representative offense on this team what do you understand about what's happened at the quarterback position throughout the year they're just struggling in general with having someone step into the role and play at a high level why didn't they go get to Flacco I don't know every minute they never even reached out to them there were a lot of different reasons for why they didn't go to certain players and I don't know what they all are I don't know who had all the say in all of this but it made this mess you know going back to before the tree deadline why aren't they just treating well it's from the business side of it at the time hey you know maybe they just don't want to give up all they don't want to give up anything knowing Aaron coming back they don't want to pay another guy and I was buying it because it was like okay well you guys know your books better than I did this would make sense but we saw what happened after that because there is a need at the quarterback spot and Zach Wilson wasn't the answer then he's not the answer now he's not happy the answer this weekend if they name them the starter it's been known and they really in my opinion I don't know this this is just my opinion I think the second Aaron Rogers went down they all just ran to the corner and said let's just hope we can get through this year let's just get through the year because we can the expectations now are impossible to live up to because we don't have one of the greatest players to ever play the game on the field how bad would that be considering look at the league look at the teams that have been able to win with backup quarterbacks Diana look at the teams that have been able to function offensively with awful quarterbacks at times and they've got one of if not the best defenses in football so to run and hide and say just get through the year they had they had ways to salvage this we saw it last night joke with some of the Bengals Joe Barrow is not out there and the and the Bengals are winning I covered the you know the Cleveland Brown I cover all the teams but I talked to the Browns a lot four different quarterbacks they've got they've been able to put together and they have a great defense too just like the New Yorker and I can tell you the culture there is not oh we don't have a quarterback the culture is we got to just keep winning we've got to win let's just keep winning and and you know all the remedy you're seeing it and it's hard it is hard you you feel for these guys I think we all feel for the just situation knowing how excited they were and what they were what they did to get Aaron Rodgers in the building so to see that the way this is looked and Aaron said it on the Pat McAfee show this has been a horrible year and and you felt it when he said it because this is not what they were hoping for and the fact that the team has looked as bad as it has after Aaron Rodgers went down you know I think that's the reason why we're seeing so much of I guess the ugliness and the blumishes really come out we appreciate you coming on out you got to pick up the kids love talking to you because I know these things you know I'm a I got a source Peter can't keep his mouth shut reading my text messages on the other talk show host and yeah that happens in New York but thank you for coming on and happy happy holidays yes happy holidays we're seeing one thing I think she got a call which she said the athletic is owned by the New York Times right I got that got lost right so the New York Times I think you have to have like two or three well-placed sources yet to tell the editors exactly who the source is before you can run so it's not like you could get you know Bernie the janitor told you that this is what has to be somebody that's deemed a high-ranking person in order to run with it so I think the Jets are just trying to put a spin on this guys yeah and you know Rodgers is smart in a sense that there is so much bad media out there as Diana said that it's easy to kind of poke holes in any story not realizing how vetted some of these stories are by professional organizations likely athletic so you have so many blogs and even radio stations and newspapers that don't vet these stories and and bad things end up happening through that and there's enough of that there that you can get the general public to not believe anything that is said by the media we've seen this in politics as well but you know to know that when when she gave that story and it's true about how hard they work to verify everything and for her to say this is not one person telling her this some multiple people this is all over the room Michael she spoke with conviction that's why she with confidence was able to to tell that story this isn't some disgruntled employee whispering something in her ear this is something she found out from multiple sources she did the work Aaron should really apologize to her because because unfortunately Aaron's words have power and he's wrong to try to bring her down on a story that she did the work on and then also denying that I spoke to him and then Diana said I know for a fact that he did so well you can say what you want me because the way it is now we have been drilled in this country to think of alternative facts fake news and all that so whenever you get zapped or you get caught just say you know it was AI it wasn't me well I wasn't there I mean and it's hard for people to believe they don't know who to believe and the New York Times does get things wrong every now and then but like Diana said Aaron Rogers of course is going to deny that he spoke to Zach because that would be confirming the story right so he had no choice but to deny that but from here and Diana Zach doesn't look good I don't want to play oh I listen to her being open once I saw her name on it honestly I'm not just saying this is a former colleague but I know her work I know her she's really good at what she does I believe the story I believe it even more after hearing her but but she added that little wrinkle to it that like this was just straight up common knowledge he wasn't that's why she's so confident he wasn't being tight-lipped about it he was telling people it's how he felt all right so let's spin this back from yesterday real quick I'm sorry I do know better than me Michael as far as the time I won't say anything okay because we have our