Is Aaron Rodgers too good for the Jets?
(Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from Mike Sando’s Pick Six from September 30, 2024.)
Will the Jets go down the same path the Packers did at the end of Mike McCarthy’s tenure?
Facing third and ten with 1:53 to go in a game, his Jets trailing 10-9, 40-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers fired a shoulder throw down the left sideline toward Xavier Gipson, a 23-year-old who went the Entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent. Gipson continued to run down the sideline. Rodgers’ pass sailed behind Gipson and fell incompletely out of bounds.
This pivotal moment play was a reminder of the rift between Rodgers and some of his much younger, much less experienced teammates toward the end of the quarterback’s run in Green Bay. As a former Green Bay coach from the Rodgers era would later say, “Aaron was so good at the scrimmage, he wanted to be in that mode all the time, but it can stress the other ten guys, especially when you have a young have a boy. team.”
A similar conflict flashed after the Jets lost on Sunday. Coach Robert Saleh’s 13 penalties for 90 yards, including five false starts, suggested the Jets might not be ready to handle Rodgers’ various cadences. Rodgers pushed back, suggesting his cadence was a weapon and not a problem for the Jets before Sunday.
Robert Saleh talks about cadence on offense and how that has been an issue regarding penalties for the Jets pre-snap pic.twitter.com/WQJCLHGi3Z
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) September 29, 2024
Aaron Rodgers seems to get irritated when asked about Robert Saleh’s comments about dialing back the cadence on offense. “That’s one way to do it. The other way is to hold them accountable.” 😳#Jets pic.twitter.com/PUbM2WvCsK
— Optimistic Jets (@OptimisticJets) September 29, 2024
The Jets have a mix of young and old on offense. Their starters Sunday: Rodgers (40), tackle Tyron Smith (33), tight end Tyler Conklin (29), receiver Allen Lazard (28), guard John Simpson (27), guard Alijah Vera-Tucker (25), tight end Jeremy Ruckert (24), receiver Garrett Wilson (24), center Joe Tippmann (23), running back Breece Hall (23) and tackle Olu Fashanu (21).
None other than Lazard has played a lot with Rodgers, and it sometimes shows.
The Rodgers-era Packers seemed to find the right balance under Matt LaFleur. Do the Jets have the time and coaching to do the same? Their offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, was with Rodgers and LaFleur from 2019 to 2021. The Jets’ offense flopped in their 10-9 loss on Sunday, despite Rodgers making a series of impressive passes.
told you!#DENvsNYJ on CBS & @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/NkyUsr9Sch
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 29, 2024
The Jets’ offensive EPA for this game (minus-18.8) was seventh-worst for any team with Rodgers in the lineup, ranking 243rd out of 249, including Rodgers’ Green Bay years. That was a huge change from the Jets’ performance in their 24-3 win over New England last week.
“The Jets blow out a rival at home who isn’t very good, and then they have 10 days to prepare for their next opponent, and this is what they look like?” said one veteran coach.
The chart below is an updated version of the chart published last week. It shows that the Jets’ offense initially revived with Rodgers, but regressed on Sunday.
(Photo: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
