FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers took care of his offensive linemen for Christmas, giving each a personalized swimsuit, cologne and sun shades — all from the designer Tom Ford — plus a Louis Vuitton passport holder and a Bose moveable speaker. Each participant additionally acquired a bottle of Devils River bourbon in his locker.
“Santa Rodgers is the most effective present giver on the group,” middle Joe Tippmann mentioned.
Rodgers has given a lot to the Jets over two seasons:
Next-level publicity, beginning with “Hard Knocks” in 2023; wage cap flexibility, due to a voluntary $34 million pay lower; probably the most publicized Achilles surgical procedure/restoration since Kobe Bryant; fixed off-the-field drama (bear in mind the vice presidential rumors and the unexcused trip to Egypt?); and let’s not overlook about hope, albeit fleeting.
The one factor that hasn’t come is what they want most: wins.
Rodgers, 41, will take the sphere Sunday in opposition to the Miami Dolphins (4:25 p.m. ET, FOX) in what most likely will probably be his ultimate sport with the Jets — maybe his final look as an NFL participant. The backside line is not fairly: His file because the Jets’ starter is 5-12 — a .294 successful share, decrease than his predecessor, the unproven Zach Wilson (12-21, .363).
The oversimplified reality: The Jets have been worse with Rodgers than they had been earlier than him, a thought that was unfathomable on April 26, 2023 — the day of his introductory information convention when he vowed so as to add one other Lombardi to the “lonely” Super Bowl III trophy within the group showcase.
“Obviously, I do not suppose this season will probably be talked about in a popular method,” cornerback D.J. Reed mentioned.
In Rodgers’ soccer profession — which incorporates 4 MVPs and a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers — his time with the Jets marks the primary time he has failed to assist a group attain postseason play a minimum of as soon as throughout his tenure, relationship again to highschool. The most intriguing half? He’s about to complete one of many higher statistical passing seasons in franchise historical past.
RODGERS SAT ON his stool, autographing memorabilia in a half-empty locker room. The gamers who had been current had been roughly half his age; to them, he was their Madden online game QB within the flesh. With his age-lined face and graying beard, he seemed outdated and misplaced.
It was mid-November. The season was a large number, and Rodgers’ left leg was barking due to hamstring and knee accidents. He wore a jacket with a fur-lined collar, trying like he was prepared to depart the constructing, however he sat uninterrupted and signed varied gadgets to be given to followers, together with a Wisconsin license plate.
A reminder of previous glory.
“People will bear in mind his two completely different legacies,” mentioned former Packers fullback John Kuhn, who performed with Rodgers for 9 years, together with their Super Bowl championship within the 2010 season.
“They’ll bear in mind Aaron Rodgers — unimaginable expertise, unimaginable competitor, the typically polarizing determine of the NFL. And they’re going to bear in mind the not-so-fond years in New York, the place one was wasted on a turf harm and one was wasted by a dysfunctional group.”
Rodgers’ place in historical past is safe. Along with the MVPs and his Super Bowl ring, he has a Super Bowl MVP, and to not point out, he holds a top-10 rating in virtually each main passing class. In quick, he is destined to be a first-ballot entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Two ill-fated seasons in New York should not diminish his legacy. Then once more, some visuals are arduous to erase from reminiscence. Joe Namath was — and is — synonymous with the Jets, however old-timers and purists nonetheless discover it arduous to abdomen video of a broken-down Namath in a Los Angeles Rams uniform in his ultimate season, 1977.
“A really troublesome transition,” Namath as soon as mentioned, regretting the transfer.
Will Rodgers be tainted by the Jets’ failure?
“To me, it is a bruise,” a former longtime NFC basic supervisor mentioned. “In time, it’s going to go away. It’s the Jets. [Brett] Favre went there. Did that damage his legacy?”
Former Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick mentioned, “His legacy will not be impacted by his Jets tenure in any respect. He’s one of many biggest quarterbacks of our era.”
Despite his struggles, Rodgers has a fame as the most effective pure passers in historical past and the numbers to again it up. His touchdown-interception ratio is the most effective ever — greater than 4 landing passes for each interception (499 to 115). With 62,678 yards, he solely wants 115 to cross Matt Ryan for seventh on the all-time list.
“I imply, my God, he is finished every little thing, he is received every little thing,” former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason mentioned. “His stats are gaudy to say the least. Those two years in New York — whether it is two years — will probably be an unlucky chapter in his profession due to the harm. It’s a disgrace he could not do what [Peyton] Manning and [Tom] Brady each did, and that is go someplace else and win a Super Bowl.”
Ah, sure, the harm — simply one of many lowest moments within the 65-year historical past of the Jets franchise. Rodgers ruptured his left Achilles on the fourth snap of the 2023 season. Rodgers likes to speak about how the universe whispers to him. In this case, it was screaming. He was by no means the identical after Sept. 11, 2023.
By all accounts, he made a rapid and full restoration, however the harm compromised his mobility. Instead of sliding exterior the pocket to make off-schedule throws — as soon as the hallmark of his sport — he has typically been trapped, like Houdini with out an escape route. The problem was exacerbated by a major hamstring harm in October that prompted some teammates to surprise if he was match to play. Rodgers pressed on, refusing to succumb once more to harm.
“To see that man on the market, dragging his leg round and pushing ahead, it gave me hope,” offensive deal with Morgan Moses mentioned. “You cannot query his love of the sport.”
Maybe they had been impressed, however the Jets have not performed prefer it. As the losses mounted, the whispers about Rodgers obtained louder. Even with a late-season flurry, he ranks twenty fifth out of 33 certified quarterbacks in Total QBR (48.3), a continuation of the pedestrian play from his ultimate season in Green Bay (2022).
The Achilles surgical procedure, and the months of rehab that adopted, exacted a bodily and psychological toll, he mentioned.
“Really, since Sept. 11 final yr, it seems like I’ve been rehabbing,” he mentioned, admitting he is disenchanted by his efficiency.
His bold statement earlier than the season, that individuals would lose their jobs if he did not play as much as his functionality, became a self-fulfilling prophecy. The in-season firings of coach Robert Saleh and basic supervisor Joe Douglas flipped every little thing the wrong way up, and the Jets by no means recovered.
Rodgers took it arduous. He had lobbied for his or her return on the finish of final season, and now the muse — his basis — was being dismantled by impatient proprietor Woody Johnson. The quarterback’s shut buddy, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, was demoted regardless of Rodgers’ efforts to have him spared. As a outcome, Rodgers’ affect inside the group had pale.
“He would not have a pot to piss in,” one supply near the scenario mentioned.
FROM THE COURTSHIP by means of the honeymoon interval, the Jets catered to Rodgers, hiring his favourite coach (Hackett), signing two of his receivers from Green Bay (Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb) and letting him set up his offense. The concept was to make him snug amid his late-career transition, with the hope of ending the longest playoff drought in major American sports — now 14 years.
“When he walked into that constructing, everyone checked out him like he was the god that was going to repair every little thing,” Esiason mentioned.
But as a quadragenarian, coming off a significant harm, his superpowers have not been at his full disposal. He has them for 1 / 4, perhaps a half, however not a whole sport. There have been a couple of video games, together with final Sunday’s two-interception loss in opposition to the Buffalo Bills, the place he seemed overmatched.
Down 33-0 within the fourth quarter, on the verge of falling to 4-12, Rodgers requested out of the sport, suggesting to interim coach Jeff Ulbrich that he insert Tyrod Taylor. Rodgers spent practically the complete fourth quarter on the bench, typically sitting alone. He seemed like Namath in Los Angeles.
The Jets envisioned Rodgers because the galvanizer, a cerebral quarterback who may use his soccer mind to win the weekly chess match, camouflage weaknesses and extract the most effective out of younger gamers.
What they did not anticipate was underachievement by the protection, which has blown fourth-quarter leads in six losses, and early-season inconsistency from kicker Greg Zuerlein, whose misses loomed massive in three losses.
Of course, Rodgers incurs many of the blame due to his lightning-rod persona. He has sputtered within the clutch, developing empty on 4 potential game-winning drives on the ultimate possession, however is he guilty for the league-leading 131 accepted penalties? The defective sport administration?
His management is at all times underneath assault from onlookers. None of his teammates, maybe out of concern of being faraway from the Rodgers circle of belief, has mentioned something unfavorable about him. Canvass the locker room, and you’re going to get solely optimistic feedback on the file.
“I really feel like he is a man that is positively misunderstood,” mentioned Reed, including that it is a privilege to play with somebody of Rodgers’ stature.
“People have their ups and downs and issues to say about him,” Moses mentioned, “however the one factor I can discuss is how I see him day by day on this office — coping with accidents, coping with the uncertainty of teaching modifications and simply being a staple within the locker room.”
Privately, some teammates mentioned they’ve observed his physique language when somebody makes a nasty play or misses an task. It occurred Sunday, when Rodgers threw his arms up after an incomplete cross to tight finish Kenny Yeboah — a ball thrown at his ft. As one participant mentioned, “It’s like, ‘Come on, man, we’re all on this collectively.'”
Rodgers’ relationship with vast receiver Garrett Wilson has additionally come underneath scrutiny. It began in coaching camp, with on-field arguments. They tried to write down them off as heated moments between two rivals, however Wilson has fumed in latest weeks as Rodgers has relied on outdated buddy Davante Adams as his WR1. Wilson claimed there’s “no reality” to hypothesis a couple of rift between them.
Rodgers’ criticism of former teammate Mike Williams additionally did not sit nicely with some. After a Week 6 loss to the Bills, Rodgers referred to as out Williams in a postgame information convention for working the flawed route on a crucial interception late within the sport — the notorious “red line” debacle. Rodgers, in nice element, defined how Williams, an offseason acquisition, was presupposed to run a vertical route (marked on apply fields with a pink line) as a substitute of an in-breaker. That play successfully ended Williams’ short-lived tenure with the Jets.
Adams was acquired the subsequent day in a commerce; Williams was shipped out to the Pittsburgh Steelers three weeks later.
“The Mike Williams pink line saga was a troublesome look on his management,” Fitzpatrick advised ESPN. “He will take the blame in press conferences, however a number of occasions it feels empty to me due to the sphere physique language and eye rolls throughout the sport.
“His vanity works for teammates after they’re successful and could be infectious, and a optimistic, for the group. But it’s hated by many that do not know him as a result of it comes throughout as smug.”
Fitzpatrick, who retired after the 2021 season, performed in opposition to Rodgers and has studied him carefully as a Prime Video analyst, enabling him to attract this conclusion:
“I’m certain most of his teammates actually like being round him and gravitate to his power,” Fitzpatrick mentioned. “I do know for a truth he treats individuals the precise approach within the constructing, which is nice to listen to, however he has develop into such a polarizing determine — since you’re both with him otherwise you aren’t.
“If you are not [with him], then you definately’re silly [in Rodgers’ eyes] — a bizarre, infantile stance that I’ve to think about alienates lots of people when you cease having day by day interactions with him.”
DESPITE INCONSISTENT PLAY, Rodgers will end among the many franchise’s single-season leaders in Total QBR (48.3, rating fifth), passing yards (3,623, sixth) and landing passes (24, ninth). With a stable sport Sunday, he’ll end high 5 in all three classes. With a sport for the ages, he may problem Namath’s hallowed file of 4,007 yards in 1967 and develop into the second quarterback in Jets historical past to eclipse 4,000 yards. Rodgers wants 385 yards to interrupt Namath’s file.
The disclaimer: The Jets’ quarterback historical past is not glittering. In truth, not one quarterback, not even the legendary Namath, has acquired a single vote for NFL MVP.
“Lots of his season has been suffering from harm,” Adams mentioned of Rodgers. “I do not need to say ‘plagued,’ however that is been one thing he is fought by means of. Obviously, he hasn’t been capable of put his greatest product on the market.
“He’s been the most effective quarterbacks to ever play this sport, and, it doesn’t matter what occurs from this second on, you possibly can’t take that away from him. Being 40 years outdated and taking part in on the stage anticipated, that is not simple to do. But he is finished a hell of a job statistically, attempting to bounce again.”
Healthier than midseason, Rodgers has produced the seventh-most passing yards over the previous 4 weeks (996), fueling speak of a return in 2025. The new basic supervisor and new coach can have lots to say about that, as will Rodgers — who has mentioned he is undecided on whether or not to play. His tenuous relationship with Johnson most likely will not assist issues.
The sense across the group is Johnson is able to transfer on, in response to individuals accustomed to the proprietor’s considering. One particular person mentioned he’d be “shocked” if Johnson indicators off on Rodgers’ return.
Rodgers has talked brazenly about the opportunity of being released, virtually sounding as if he is daring the group to do it. He not too long ago poked Johnson, making a crack concerning the proprietor’s teenaged son being concerned within the soccer operation. That most likely did not sit nicely within the huge workplace.
The plan, Rodgers mentioned, is to take a while within the offseason earlier than making a decision on whether to retire. Clearly, he desires to manage his personal future.
“Whether he desires to play one other yr or not, he is a Hall of Famer and an MVP, and you’ll’t take that away from him,” Moses mentioned. “One factor about file books and stats and stuff like that: You can attempt to strip a man of his data, however you possibly can’t strip the man of the {hardware}. And he is obtained a number of it.”
Rodgers referred to as these “the most effective two years of my life,” that means in a non secular sense — new friendships and a brand new appreciation for the sport. He needs there have been extra victories. So does the fan base. The universe, typically merciless to the Jets, hasn’t obliged.
