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Amid a chaotic week in what has been a tumultuous season for the New York Jets, there seems to be a feeling from at least some people in the organization about Aaron Rodgers’ ability at this point his career.
On the latest episode of the Scoop City podcast (starts at 2:45 mark), The Athletic’s Dianna Russini said the Jets have been “tiptoeing around the fact” that Rodgers “is not good anymore.”
It can be debated how much the Jets are tiptoeing around this. Russini and Zack Rosenblatt reported on Tuesday that Jets owner Woody Johnson suggested benching Rodgers for Tyrod Taylor following the team’s 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4 “he felt Rodgers’ performance was holding the team back.”
Even though Jets coaches talked Johnson out of making a move at that point, it’s clear that Rodgers isn’t playing at the level the team hoped for when he was acquired from the Green Bay Packers in April 2023.
Rodgers has thrown for 2,442 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 11 starts. His 50.9 QBR ranks 25th out of 32 qualified quarterbacks. He’s not playing terrible, but there’s nothing he is doing that elevates the offense.
It does speak to the state of the Jets’ offensive ineptitude that their 18.5 points per game this season is their highest since averaging 20.8 points per game in 2018.
The Jets have made moves that were either designed to appease Rodgers or at least help the situation around him. They brought in Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses and Olu Fashanu in the offseason to upgrade the offensive line.
Davante Adams was acquired from the Las Vegas Raiders in October. The best part of that trade is the conditional draft pick that could have become a second-rounder will almost certainly remain a third-rounder because he’s probably not going to make the All-Pro team, nor are the Jets likely going on a run that will result in a trip to the AFC Championship Game or Super Bowl.
In fact, since acquiring Adams, the Jets have lost four of five games. They have been held to fewer than 300 yards of total offense in each of their last three games.
Not all of these problems are because of Rodgers, but he is not helping the situation. Given that the Jets have already fired head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they move on from Rodgers after this season.
There probably aren’t a lot of GM or head-coaching candidates that want to enter a situation with a soon-to-be 41-year-old quarterback who is playing at this current level.
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