FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Most of the conversation around Aaron Rodgers this offseason hasn’t had much to do with football. It often doesn’t.
But in between his dalliances with a vice presidential run and appearances on shows hosted by Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and others — where football was not at the forefront of the conversation — the New York Jets revamped the roster around Rodgers on offense in hopes of better building a Super Bowl contender.
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Monday, Rodgers returned to the practice field for OTAs. Tuesday, he practiced fully in front of the media for the first time since suffering a torn Achilles four plays into the Jets’ first game last season and … mostly looked like himself.
There is still a level of excitement around the Jets, Rodgers and this team’s potential, but it’s a little bit quieter than last year when Rodgers first arrived. There will be no HBO cameras following the Jets around for “Hard Knocks,” and everyone involved knows they’re under pressure to win — or else.
“I think if I don’t do what I’m capable of doing, we’re all probably going to be out here,” Rodgers said Tuesday after practice. “I like that kind of pressure.”
Aaron Rodgers is here. pic.twitter.com/c2hFwYHXL6
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) May 21, 2024
And all that noise Rodgers tends to create off the field will — or, should — be less of a concern if the Jets can play well on Sundays.
At the end of the season, Rodgers declared that the Jets organization needed to “flush the bulls—” and that “anything in this building that we’re doing individually or collectively that has nothing to do with real winning needs to be assessed.”
Those words brought scrutiny after Rodgers’ various non-football interviews over the last few months, but he still stands by those words.
“I appreciate anybody’s opinion,” Rodgers said. “That’s the beauty in the First Amendment in this country, and free speech … those are offseason things. Those are real opportunities. I mostly podcast with friends of mine. …
“Once the season starts,” he added. “It’s all about football.”
Tuesday, it was all about football. Here are observations from the Jets’ second OTA practice.
Rodgers’ return — and how he looked
Yes, No. 8 is fully back — albeit in a low-stress, low-intensity, OTA practice setting. Coming off the injury, Rodgers said that now: “I feel like I can do anything.”
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It was promising watching Rodgers sling it in drills. He mostly looked like himself, though there weren’t many pass attempts down the field. Still, Rodgers’ ability to thread the needle remains at a level the Jets haven’t really seen from their quarterbacks.
“Nothing’s going to stop him,” cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “He’s still the same guy.”
more of this pls@AaronRodgers12 ➡️ @GarrettWilson_V pic.twitter.com/CTSAYQI016
— New York Jets (@nyjets) May 20, 2024
In his first run on 11-on-11 drills — Rodgers’ first run the media have watched since his Week 1 injury — he completed short passes to running back Xazavian Valladay and tight end Kenny Yeboah in what was mostly a series practicing hand-offs and tosses to the running backs.
In seven-on-seven drills, Rodgers was a perfect 5-for-5, completing passes to Garrett Wilson, Jeremy Ruckert, Allen Lazard, Xavier Gipson and Braelon Allen.
He started cooking in the next group of 11-on-11 plays. He lasered a pass to Gipson in the middle of the field for what would’ve been a 30- or 40-yard touchdown in a game setting. He followed that up with two nice throws into tight coverage to Wilson and tight end Tyler Conklin before rookie cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers kept Gipson from pulling in a catch at the sideline down the field.
On Rodgers’ final run of team drills, Gardner made an impressive diving pass breakup on a pass intended for Wilson. On Rodgers’ next pass, he threw it pretty far behind Wilson — who impressively adjusted his body, completely turning it in the opposite direction while jumping and making the catch anyway. Wilson scored on a touchdown two plays later when Rodgers squeezed it into his star wideout despite tight coverage from linebacker C.J. Mosley. Wilson, who looks ready to break out in a big way in 2024, celebrated immediately by shooting the football into the sky like a basketball.
All told, Rodgers completed 8 of 10 passes in 11-on-11 and 5-of-5 in seven-on-seven. He didn’t have to move around much but looked fine when he did, all things (age, injury) considered.
“I have a lot of motivation. I love the game. I want to play at a high level. I don’t want to go out as a bum,” Rodgers said. “That’s why I put the work in. I believe in my abilities. You guys saw it today. There was no pads on but I can obviously still throw with the best of them.”
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This will be stated a lot this offseason, but this offense will be dangerous if Rodgers can stay upright.
“It’s amazing. He has found some sort of fountain of youth because I don’t ever see a different version of him,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said after practice. “I don’t see any velocity off the ball, I don’t see a lack of movement, he’s got the same personality that (ticks) you off during the week and then you love it on Sundays. I can’t wait to get an opportunity to be part of a season with him as opposed to four plays.”
Veterans, coaching
Rodgers remains a vocal leader on the practice field. He took a lot of time Tuesday to pull aside the Jets’ three rookie quarterbacks — fifth-round pick Jordan Travis and undrafted rookies Andrew Peasley and Colby Suits — and offer them pointers. During an early passing drill, a Rodgers pass sailed past rookie wide receiver Malachi Corley before he could turn his head and Rodgers made sure to let Corley know he ran the wrong route.
Rodgers said it was “cool” to see veteran right tackle Morgan Moses pull second-year offensive tackle Carter Warren aside after practice. He also lauded rookie Olu Fashanu for getting pointers from left tackle Tyron Smith at his locker.
And at QB2 …
The Jets feel much better about their backup quarterback situation than they did a year ago, though it was a little bumpy for QB2 on Tuesday. Tyrod Taylor had a couple errant throws in early passing drills, then threw a pass behind Allen and too short for tight end Zack Kuntz during 11-on-11 drills. In total, he completed 5 of 8 passes in 11-on-11 drills. He also missed on some throws in passing drills early in practice intended for Irv Charles and Jason Brownlee. Lazard also dropped a pass from Taylor.
Keep in mind that Taylor was playing with the backup receivers and offensive line, a group full of rookies and some new faces. He should get better as the offseason progresses.
GO DEEPERWhy so much Jets in NFL's prime-time schedule?Injuries and absences
The Jets had impressive attendance for a voluntary OTA practice. The most notable players not spotted on the field included running back Breece Hall, defensive end Haason Reddick, defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker and wide receiver Mike Williams.
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Williams (knee) and Vera-Tucker (Achilles) were likely inside rehabbing their injuries. Coach Robert Saleh said they haven’t been cleared to practice yet.
Moses and guard John Simpson worked off to the side with trainers during practice. Moses had offseason pectoral surgery; it’s unclear why Simpson wasn’t practicing. Travis and undrafted offensive lineman Brady Latham also didn’t practice due to injuries.
As for some other players with injury questions: Smith and Fashanu both practiced, as did safety Chuck Clark, who suffered a torn ACL in OTAs last year.
UDFA standout
Undrafted defensive lineman Eric Watts had a nice day. He beat Fashanu for what would’ve been a sack of Taylor in 11-on-11 drills, and won most of his battles against other backup offensive linemen, too. He received the highest guarantee ($245,000) of all the Jets’ UDFAs and could push for a spot on the roster and in the defensive line rotation.
Extra points
• Smith stone-walled just about every defensive lineman he went up against. It will be fun to watch him throughout the summer — and interesting to see how much he practices.
• Players getting practice reps at punt returner included Corley, Gipson, Israel Abanikanda, Tyler Harrell, Brandon Codrington and Hamze El-Zayat.
• Ulbrich addressed The Athletic’s report that he and the 49ers had mutual interest in a marriage this offseason: “It’s rare in life that you come to work every day and love what you do and you love the organization you do it with, you love the players you get to coach. That’s what I have here. So saying all that, I’m so happy and fulfilled being in this place right now, with this team, with this roster.”
• Rodgers said Saleh has been more involved in the offense this offseason, which is interesting considering the Jets explored adding a veteran coach to reduce offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett’s role. “Robert, to his credit, has taken a deeper role in the offense. … He’s been sitting over to the left of me a good part of the offseason,” Rodgers said. “We appreciate his influence. He’s brought some really good ideas to the table. He’s been joking he doesn’t know everything about the offense, doesn’t know all the signals, but he’s added a lot of interesting stuff you’ll see throughout the OTAs and training camp.”
• Hackett got testy when pressed about Saleh looking to hire someone else: “We had a lot of changes and we were talking to a lot of people,” he said.
(Photo: Seth Wenig / Associated Press)
Zack Rosenblatt is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Jets. Before joining The Athletic, he worked as a staff writer for The Star-Ledger, where he covered the Eagles and Giants. He also covered the Arizona Wildcats for the Arizona Daily Star. He's a graduate of the University of Arizona and is originally from Cherry Hill, N.J. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackBlatt
