Jets make a decision on Aaron Rodgers' immediate future
In the 2023 NFL offseason the New York Jets went all in on quarterback Aaron Rodgers and they will continue to that plan until the wheels finally come off. Monday, which happens to be Aaron Rodgers’ 41st birthday, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich announced that the team is sticking with Rodgers going forward including this […]
In the 2023 NFL offseason the New York Jets went all in on quarterback Aaron Rodgers and they will continue to that plan until the wheels finally come off.
Monday, which happens to be Aaron Rodgers’ 41st birthday, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich announced that the team is sticking with Rodgers going forward including this Sunday at the Miami Dolphins. “We have great belief in Aaron. We think he gives us the best opportunity to win” Ulbrich said.
Rodgers was asked after the teams 26-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks if he thought he would continue to play for the New York Jets for the rest of the season and Rodgers sounded pretty non-committal on the topic.
Rodgers has been dreadful this season. In fact, from 2022 to now, Rodgers ranks 30th out of 33 qualified passers in Total QBR, ahead of only Will Levis, Mac Jones and Bryce Young.
Ulbrich says Aaron Rodgers’ injuries earlier this season have a lot to do with some of his poor statistics, which sounds like another excuse in a week full of them for the New York Jets. Rodgers was asked about missing a wide-open Garrett Wilson in the end zone for a touchdown, only to throw a pick-six the next play and Rodgers blamed the wind. “I tried to throw it about five inside. Wind was a little inconsistent. Maybe I should have thrown it a little flatter because he was wide open. I’ve got to hit that, doesn’t matter, windy, I’ve played in wind before. It was inconsistent, but I’ve got to hit that".
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he also wasn’t going to leave the podium without pointing the fingers at his teammates for some of the issues. "Well, there are 11 guys on the field. Sometimes it’s my fault. Definitely multiple times today. And then the details aren’t there in some other spots, too."
The Jets are 3-9. In five of those nine losses, the Jets gave their future Hall of Fame quarterback the ball with a chance to take the lead in the closing minutes and he failed every single time. This persona Rodgers has of being smug and arrogant works just fine when you are playing like someone who will walk into Canton five years after retiring, but when you can’t throw the ball 10 yards down the field, it is an act that wears thin quickly.
Rodgers is not solely to blame for the Jets being as bad as they are, but he is a very large part of it, and no Jets fan wants to (or frankly deserves to) hear him blaming the wind in and his teammates.
As far as Rodgers continuing to start for the Jets, I don’t have a problem with it. What benefit do the Jets get from benching him while they are 3-9? At this point the entire organization is a circus sideshow, and Rodgers is the main attraction.
