CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There’s nothing that’s gone viral these days, with a video of Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson having a fun conversation on the sideline.
In fact, the chemistry between the two has been on full display every day during training camp, and that could lead to a great season for the Jets.
On Thursday, Wilson had five catches and two touchdowns in a joint practice with the Panthers.
He also received a pass interference penalty on a long Rodgers pass that led to a touchdown.
Wilson realizes how much better life would be with Rodgers as his quarterback.
“When he’s in front of me, all of a sudden I’m like, this guy can throw the ball anything, throw it anywhere,” Wilson said. “To me, it just feels like pure football. It makes me feel like a kid again. The best way to put it is I believe in what I’m seeing.”
There were some tough moments as the two learned each other’s games.
Wilson has always been a guy who could improvise and win with his athleticism.
Rodgers sometimes wishes he could make things more precise.
“Stylistically, I definitely had to change it,” Wilson said, “but I think it’s more natural for me to play the way I play, react and trust what I see. He’s been around a lot of receivers, a lot of guys, so he’s had to figure out how to get the ball to them. That’s a valuable thing.”
Wilson is able to improvise if something happens on the field.
Unlike the past two years, when they rotated between quarterbacks, Wilson believes his quarterbacks are on the same page as him.
“When it comes to football, all of a sudden you’ve got to make football plays,” Wilson said. “You’re sitting there 7 yards out, right? You just run up their ass and get your hands up? To be able to do that with Aaron is the type of thing we didn’t get to do last year or the year before. It’s awesome and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Wilson is having a great training camp.
He’s always open and seems to drop the ball.
He tormented the Commanders’ secondary in joint practice last week and has had success against the Jets’ secondary as well.
After strong starts his first two years, Wilson appears to have reached a new level in his third training camp.
“He’s always been the ultimate competitor,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said, “but he’s really worked on the finer details of route running, getting to where the quarterback needs him and understanding that sometimes you don’t have to completely beat your guy at the line of scrimmage.”
“Sometimes it’s just about running a route as fast as you can and getting in position as fast as you can for the quarterback to throw the ball. He’s starting to understand all of that. I think because of that, he understands his game. He’s so good, so agile, so fast, he doesn’t have to do a lot to get the separation he needs to get open.”
Wilson said he and Rogers talk often so they can understand what the other sees.
“We definitely have to talk about it,” Wilson said, “and then we can have the more difficult conversations, where he tells me what he wants from me and I can listen to that and consider my feelings and we can make a decision together.”
“As we spend time together and hang out, we have chemistry and we know how he does his thing and I do my thing. It just happens naturally. So I don’t think we were overly over it. I feel like we’re in a good place right now. Obviously, I had to make some time to get going, but I feel like we’ve picked up where we left off. Now it’s just a matter of taking it day by day and figuring out how to get a little better.”
