Aaron Rodgers hasn’t stayed out of the headlines during his time with the New York Jets. Although he has only played four meaningful snaps with the team, he is the center of attention no matter where he goes. That has been the case for the majority of his career.
On multiple occasions throughout his career Rodgers hasn’t been afraid to voice his frustrations with players, coaches, or even front office personnel.
That was no different this week.
Former Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers Questions His Head Coach Over Statement
Rodgers will say whats on his mind, this time his head coach Robert Saleh was on his mind:
According to Dianna Russini, from The Athletic, Rodgers questioned how Saleh worded the quarterback’s absence.
“The 40-year-old skipped practice the week of June 10 for a trip to Egypt. It was something he planned long before these practices, and something he alerted coach Robert Saleh to ahead of time. The organization knew he’d miss the entire week, even if many outside the building originally misunderstood it as a one-day absence. None of it came as a surprise to the front office or coaches, even though Saleh called it an ‘unexcused absence’ during a news conference.strong
Rodgers went to Saleh after that to question why he would call it unexcused. According to Russini, the head coach and his quarterback ironed things out and ‘everyone’s great now.’”
The Jets could have probably handled the situation better from an external perspective. Rodgers participated in most of the team’s offseason program, including voluntary team activities. If Saleh, for instance, had said that Rodgers would be out of mandatory minicamp for personal reasons but it wouldn’t be an “excused absence” for locker room purposes, it might have been a one-day story, not the big offseason topic it ended up being.
“You should trust me and I trust Nathaniel. So, to me, that’s end of story,” Rodgers told SiriusXM back in May. “There’s been a lot of BS that’s been said out there. There’s a lot of things that have gone on the last couple years that he’s dealt with that I think he’s handled very professionally. And at the end of the day, I think you gotta trust his and my working relationship and the conversations that we have. You gotta trust the staff.”
Last year, the Jets finished the season dead last in offensive DVOA under Hackett. But Rodgers got hurt after four plays, and the team started a combination of Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle, and Trevor Siemian for the rest of the season. So, while it’s fair to have questions about Hackett, it’s completely realistic to project a better performance in 2024.
Rodgers will enter the 2024 season the same way he has entered nearly every season of his career: with Super Bowl expectations. The Jets brought Rodgers in because they felt they were one QB away from being legitimate contenders.
While the 2023 seasons (obviously) didn’t go as planned, the team spent much of the 2024 off-season revamping their roster and preparing for a run.
The first matter of business will be to make the playoffs, and the easiest way to do that is win your division. The Jets are in a division that, on paper, seems up in the air. The Bills lost multiple playmakers this off-season, the Dolphins did little to improve their roster, and the Patriots are starting over at quarterback.
The Jets should have as good of chance as any in their division to get back on top for the first time since 2002.
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