Since getting traded from the Green Bay Packers to the Jets prior to the 2023-24 season, it hasn’t gone according to plan for quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
A torn Achilles kept him out for his entire first season in New York (minus four snaps), and this season he and Gang Green are heading into their Week 11 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts at 3-7, tied for last in the AFC East.
It’s been quite the reversal of fortune that Rodgers found in Green Bay where he spent the first 18 seasons of his Hall of Fame career. Still, the disappointing season by the Jets hasn’t deterred the 41-year-old’s commitment to the team or his plans to continue playing next season in what would be his 21st season in the NFL.
“Not really. Not for the negative, no,” Rodgers said when asked if this season’s struggles have affected his thoughts on continuing to play.
Rodgers was then asked more directly if he still wants to play in 2025 and he responded, “I think so, yeah.”
The quarterback hasn’t played to the level of his own expectations this season, nor to the level that fans were accustomed to seeing throughout his career and possibly expecting to see in New York.
However, Rodgers has proven he still has more left in the tank.
His 62.4 percent completion percentage would be his lowest since 2019 (not counting his injury-shortened 2023 season), but it’s still hovering around his career completion percentage of 65.2 percent. It’s also worth noting that he was named a Pro Bowler in 2019.
Rodgers has also thrown for 2,258 passing yards and has 15 touchdowns to seven interceptions this year. Has he been vintage Rodgers? No, although his offensive line hasn’t exactly helped him out either. However, he’s still capable of making plays when given the opportunity.
“I’m not playing as well as I would’ve liked to play, for sure,” he said. “The beauty in this game is it’s a team game. The frustrating part is if you’re a great competitor and hold yourself to a standard and it’s not unrealistic. I haven’t reset a standard this year.”
And while Rodgers hasn’t elevated the Jets to where the organization believed he could have, Gang Green’s poor performances have come from every position on the field at some point in time.
What’s surprising about the Jets’ season, too, is the unevenness from game to game. For example, in Week 9 against the Houston Texans, Rodgers came back from a slow first half to throw for three touchdowns in a 21-13 win.
The Jets then followed up that game with their latest dismal loss in a 31-6 blowout to the Arizona Cardinals where Rodgers went 22-for-35 with 151 passing yards and no touchdowns.
“You got to hold onto the hope of something great happening,” he said. “We’ve been in this situation where we’ve been four [games] under, five under [.500] before and I said back then it just takes one to kinda get the momentum going. And I felt like that was gonna be the Thursday night Texas game, but we haven’t played great [this season] in those two Sunday games after a Thursday.”
It’s true. After a 24-3 win against the New England Patriots on Thursday night earlier in the season to put New York 2-1 on the season, they followed it up with a 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos that began a five-game losing streak which also included former head coach Robert Saleh getting fired.
In Saleh’s absence, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, who began the season as the defensive coordinator, hasn’t fared much better going 1-4 since taking over. But despite the lack of success in the win column, Rodgers said he’s seen a difference in the team.
“What [Ulbrich’s] done, the way that we’ve practiced, I feel like there has been great changes,” he said. “I feel like he’s done some really good things. I think [Ulbrich] is an NFL head coach, whether it’s here moving forward or down the line. He’s a leader of men and I’ll stand by him and I’d love to play for him until the end. I have a lot of love and respect for him.”
Regardless, with seven games left to play this season the Jets are in danger of finishing below .500 for the ninth straight season barring a complete turnaround.
If that’s the case, it would be another lost year for a team that has enough talent to compete with anybody in the league and who, on paper, looked good enough to challenge for a Super Bowl.
“I think that the verdict is still not out on this season yet, but I think it’s always a challenge when they’re singing your praises or tearing you down outside the building,” Rodgers said. “It’s an important challenge.”
He continued: “It’s a wake up call for all of us. Any time you lose in general, but when you lose the way we’ve lost this year I think you got to check the process. What is your process during the week and if it’s not resulting in the performance that you want – and this is for all of us, myself included – then you got to make alterations. And that’s how you win Monday through Saturday.”
For many players on the Jets, especially young players who were brought in to be a part of the solution, losing is all they’ve known thus far in the NFL. Bringing in a leader such as Rodgers was supposed to help with that as well.
So far, it hasn’t happened yet.
“You gotta be the same everyday. You gotta bring the same energy, the same type of focus, preparation,” Rodgers said. “We gotta set the standard with that. Once you dip your head it gives permission for everybody else to do the same thing so it’s important to check yourself on your attitude and your energy every day.
“[When] you step into the building there has to be a flip that switches. All the frustration, any disappointment you leave it outside and you come in the building and it’s about [being] positive, being part of the solution and carrying yourself the right way.”
Positive vibes and a good attitude are certainly a necessary part of the equation, but at some point the execution by the players on the field needs to match the energy and focus in practice.
“We’re all trying to figure this thing out together is the truth of it,” said wide receiver Garrett Wilson. “We all gotta be looking in the mirror, we can’t be looking at someone else for how we’re gonna go about this because that’s not reality. We all got here for a reason, we’re all in this position because we can play ball and you trust in yourself to get yourself out of this hole that we’ve put ourselves in… We’re not looking for anyone to save us.”