Getty New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers warming up in the middle of a practice session.
Aaron Rodgers made a triumphant return to New York Jets practice during OTAs.
Tuesday, May 21 was the first OTA practice that was open to the media.
Connor Hughes of SNY described Rodgers as “surgical” during the practice session.
“It’s funny to me watching Aaron Rodgers in 7-on-7 drills and realizing this is how it’s supposed to look. Lost track of how many times Jets QBs completed 50-60% of their passes in these drills,” Hughes said on social media.
It’s funny to me watching Aaron Rodgers in 7-on-7 drills and realizing this is how it’s supposed to look. Lost track of how many times #Jets QBs completed 50-60% of their passes in these drills. Rodgers surgical.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic was keeping track of Rodgers’ statistics during team drills.
“8/10 in team drills with TD passes to Xavier Gipson and Garrett Wilson. 5/5 in 7 on 7 drills. Wasn’t perfect but he was mostly looking like himself,” Rosenblatt explained.
Aaron Rodgers final numbers in #Jets team drills today:
8/10 in team drills with TD passes to Xavier Gipson and Garrett Wilson.
5/5 in 7 on 7 drills.
Wasn’t perfect but he was mostly looking like himself.
Rodgers Looks Unaffected by Achilles Surgery, Rehab
The 40-year-old quarterback blew out his Achilles in the 2023 season opener versus the Buffalo Bills. Rodgers was expected to miss the entire campaign and he did. However, at the tail end of the year, there was a chance A-Rod could have returned to the lineup.
Ultimately the team fell out of playoff contention so Rodgers never officially made his return to the field. So it has been months since we last saw Rodgers participating in full football activities at practice.
Head coach Robert Saleh confirmed that Rodgers has “no restrictions” at practice and “there are no limitations to what we are asking him to do at practice.”
Rich Cimini of ESPN described it as a “good showing” for Rodgers in practice.
“He’s rekindling that chemistry with Garrett Wilson, hitting him on two short routes. He zipped a 6-yard TD pass to Wilson on a seeing-eye pass through traffic. Somehow squeezed it into tight coverage by C.J. Mosley. Rodgers’ best throw was a deep seam to Xavier Gipson, who beat Chuck Clark. Overall, Rodgers was 8-for-10 in 11 v 11. Keep in mind, this is non-contract — basically, a passing camp. But the QB1 was sharp for a guy who hasn’t played a game in a long time.”
A good showing for Aaron Rodgers. He’s rekindling that chemistry with Garrett Wilson, hitting him on two short routes. He zipped a 6-yard TD pass to Wilson on a seeing-eye pass through traffic. Somehow squeezed it into tight coverage by C.J. Mosley. Rodgers’ best throw was a deep…
The Jets Have All the Pieces in Place to Support Rodgers
Longtime former NFL player and current ESPN analyst Marcus Spears said on “NFL Live” that he believes the Jets can make it to the AFC Championship game and potentially the Super Bowl, “if Aaron Rodgers is the Aaron Rodgers that we all expect him to be.”
.@mspears96 believes the Jets can make it to the AFC Championship and potentially the Super Bowl “if Aaron Rodgers is the Aaron Rodgers that we all expect him to be.” 👀
Candidly no one truly knows what kind of Rodgers we are going to get in 2024. We don’t have a history of examples featuring a 40-year-old who will turn 41 during the season coming off of a serious injury coming back and playing the game of football at a high level.
While a return to an MVP level, like Spears suggested would be amazing, the Jets don’t need it.
Last season the Jets won seven games despite boasting arguably the worst quarterback play in football.
Mike Clay of ESPN told Jake Asman that even if the Jets get an “average Aaron Rodgers” in 2024 they should still be “a contending team.”
“Maybe he’s the 10th best quarterback, the 12th best, the 16th best somewhere in that range. If that’s the case I think you’re going to come away happy. I think you’re going to win double-digit games,” Clay explained on “The Jake Asman Show.”
.@MikeClayNFL told @JakeAsman that even if the #Jets get ‘average Aaron Rodgers this is still a contending team.’ 👀
‘Maybe he’s the 10th best quarterback, the 12th best, the 16th best somewhere in that range. If that’s the case I think you’re going to come away happy. I think…