Aaron Rodgers is well aware that the Jets' world revolves around him, and that's how he likes it and wants it.
It's the way he's wired, and it's the way every franchise quarterback should be wired. Your ball, your team, the game to win, the Super Bowl to chase, the legacy to build.
Or in his case, the legacy you should leave behind in New York.
During his time with the Packers, Rodgers liked to joke that he owned the Bears because they always beat them, and now he owns the Jets. He is the owner of the Jets because he was gifted the key to the kingdom, giving actual owners Woody and Christopher Johnson a quarterback, Robert Saleh, Nathaniel Hackett, and Joe Douglas. I told him that he should only be appreciated when he was playing, just as he wanted. That's their command.
The Jets have grown increasingly desperate over the years, so much so that Rodgers has the same kind of credentials that Tom Brady had with the Bucs, the same kind of credentials that Peyton Manning had with the Broncos, with a very specific set of skills. He gave it to his owner, Rogers. Perhaps even more.
He answered the Jets' prayers when he decided the grass was greener on the New York stage, but his biggest prayer still remains to be answered.
The Jets have a right to the title, too.
That lonely Lombardi Trophy he noticed when he first arrived at the facility is no less lonely today.
Give one and stand next to it.
“It's clear we're all going to be in the quote-unquote 'hot seat' next year,” Rodgers said Monday.
He was right when he said that the greatest competitors are those who can push themselves, and he is a great competitor as well. Those demands will remain the same in 2024, even though he's a year older at 40 and coming back from a torn Achilles tendon that cost him all but four plays in his ill-fated 2023 season.
“I have to go out there and prove that I can still play at a high level,” Rodgers said.
prove It's your team. You wanted to get back in power, but they came back after a winning streak of 7 wins and 10 losses. I wanted former Packers teammates Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, so I got them. If they wanted Dalvin Cook, they got him. You love Hackett, he's not going anywhere, even if the Jets fans who lost him a touchdown hired a limousine to drive him away.
“What happened this season will never happen again. … We should be better,” Garrett Wilson said. “We have to make adjustments during the game.”
If you want to do your weekly Pat McAfee thing, do it, even if you stirred up some unwanted controversy last week with your feud with Jimmy Kimmel over the release of Jeffrey Epstein's list.
“Flash the BS,” Rodgers said.
His coaches and teammates respect him and either don't see McAfee or don't care, but apparently Rodgers isn't worried that BS will someday seep into the building. . There was no “Hard Knocks” hype this summer, much to the delight of Sauce Gardner, who some thought was a distraction.
“If we want to be a winning organization and put ourselves in a position to win championships and stay competitive, everything we do matters,” Rodgers said. “And any bull that has nothing to do with winning should get out of the building.”
Rodgers signed a two-year, $75 million restructured contract with $35 million on waivers, hoping to play two more games with teammates who are as committed to excellence as he is, but he's still talking. I can't say it even if it's ripped, but I said this at a conference featuring Josh Allen. Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence in their primes and CJ Stroud as a rising star, his Super Bowl window and the Jets' Super Bowl window closed without warning. there is a possibility.
He acknowledges that we live in a world of “what have we done lately,” and that the Jets lost a second-round draft pick and LT Broderick Jones in the first round because they went winless. He was brought here to exchange a designated player. He won his first Super Bowl in 55 years and had an embarrassing 13-year playoff drought.
And what about Rogers? He is now two years away from his fourth MVP.
“I'm coming back strong from this injury,” he says. “He's coming back in great shape at 40 years old. He's coming back and proving he can still play, coming back and proving that this offense can work and work.”We all know that. , find different ways to get into the right headspace. ”
The offensive line is a nightmare, and Rodgers would welcome a unique bodyguard who also happens to be a character. Of course, he provides recruitment services, and when he speaks, people like Douglas listen.
“I think we need some pieces,” Rodgers said. “We've had a lot of injuries up front, so we need to shore up our offensive line. That's important. We probably need a little more help at receiver. But from a schematic standpoint, I think I'm good on offense. I love what it can do.”
The Jets can't win without him. It's up to him to show the world that with him, they can win, and they can win big. Mr. Saleh believes Mr. Rogers is on a mission. “The fire is still very strong,” Rogers said.
If he doesn't fly the 2024 jet to Cloud 8, the house will be destroyed by fire.
