It’s on Rodgers to change the narrative.
Last year, Aaron Rodgers made his regular-season Jets debut last season on Monday Night Football, and he lasted only four snaps after he tore his left Achilles on a sack by then-Buffalo Bills’ edge rusher Leonard Floyd. MetLife Stadium became a morgue after all that hype, and Twitter turned into a funeral that night.
It meant the Jets season would crash into oblivion, and it did when Rodgers was out with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The Jets ended up winning seven games, and they went through inept quarterback play from the useless Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle, and Trevor Siemian. Wilson also created drama after allegedly not wanting to play again after Boyle benched him for his inept play, according to the Athletic’s Diana Russini. The Jets postseason drought continues at 13, the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports.
It was a season to forget. It was nothing but misery. One can make a case that this was even worse than the ‘96 Jets 1-15 season in Rich Kotite’s last year as the team’s head coach. There was so much hope and hype in Rodgers’ first season here. There were dreams about going to the Super Bowl. There was so much intrigue about the former Packers quarterback being a New York Jet. Instead, Jets fans went through a season that no fanbase should ever experience.
Rodgers and the Jets were back to give it another try on Monday night when the Jets played the defending NFC champion San Francisco 49ers. Ironically enough, Floyd played for the 49ers in that game. While both have moved forward from last season, Jets fans are understandably jaded. All they have witnessed is nothing but bad luck for a long time. We are talking about three generations of Jets fans here.
Last night did not go well for the Jets after the 49ers did whatever they wanted against Gang Green’s defense in the visitors’ 32-19 loss to the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium.
Most Jets fans are hoping for the best. The New York Post painted a Jets fan saying a prayer that Rodgers stays healthy this season in the Jets season preview cover last week. It was a far cry from Super Bowl talk by them last season.
You don’t expect pro athletes and coaches to go through trauma since they are wired not to think that way. They shouldn’t be employed if they truly think like the fans. Fans are a different story since they have gone through the wringer too often.
It’s on Rodgers to change the narrative. He must be healthy and productive. He looked good at this training camp, and you figure that with his talent, he should do fine. I wonder if the offensive line and the MetLife turf can keep him healthy for all 18 games. Plus, he is no spring chicken anymore at 40.
The Jets fans can’t experience deja vu. They deserve better than this. They are good, loyal fans who have put up with bad football time after time with awful management.
If Rodgers flops or gets hurt again, there likely will be a regime change. This would mean Jets head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas would be out. This would mean there will be a new quarterback since the new administration would want its guy under center.
Honestly, does any Jets fan want to see owner Woody Johnson hire another general manager and another head coach after getting it wrong time after time? Does any Jets fan want to go through another hope of a young quarterback to see him implode like Sam Darnold and Wilson?
For all Douglas’ mistakes, such as drafting Wilson as the 2021 No. 2 overall draft pick, selecting Mekhi Becton as the 2020 No. 11 overall draft pick, and foolishly letting Bryce Huff (free agent) and John Franklin-Myers go to acquire Haason Reddick, he also fielded a team with talents such as Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, Breece Hall and Alijah Vera-Tucker. The Jets can do a lot worse than him. There’s no guarantee they can find someone better than him.
We can harp on Robert Saleh’s 18-33 record. There’s no doubt there have to be questions about that. But he never had a quarterback like Rodgers who can elevate his team. To his credit, he somehow won seven games with stiffs such as Wilson, Boyle, and Siemian, and he somehow had his team together after Rodgers was done for the year. Do we want to go through another coaching search? Let’s see what Saleh does with Rodgers before we let the Jets make the final decision.
Rodgers may have a few years left, but that’s better than nothing. The Jets can’t draft another future quarterback for a long time. We saw enough after Darnold and Wilson imploded. Playing for the Jets isn’t ideal for a rookie quarterback. The team is better off with a professional quarterback rather than having someone learn on the job.
This is why the Jets need to hope Rodgers stays healthy. The outlook after he’s gone is not rosy.
This is a team that can go to the Super Bowl with Rodgers. We know how tough this defense is from the secondary to the defensive line. We know they have playmakers in Gardner, Hall, and Wilson. We know about their talent.
The Jets fans deserve a better fate after what they went through last season. If the football gods had a heart, they would make sure Rodgers survives all 17 games this year instead of four snaps.
