FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers is throwing passes with his usual zip, rolling out when he needs to and taking charge of the New York Jets' offence.
Nine practices into training camp, the 40-year-old quarterback has many forgetting about the torn Achilles tendon that ended his season after just four snaps last year.
“He looks like he never missed any time,” coach Robert Saleh said after the team's 90-minute scrimmage on a steamy Saturday.
Rodgers has been solid throughout camp and sparkled on several days — reminiscent of his first camp with the Jets last summer. But the fact he's coming off such a serious injury and rendering it a non-factor as he practices every day has New York feeling optimistic about its quarterback nearly 11 months removed from surgery.
“He looks really good,” Saleh said.
During the Jets' scrimmage, Rodgers didn't throw any touchdown passes — one drive was short-circuited by a high snap from Joe Tippmann that the QB couldn't handle and another by a fumble by rookie Isaiah Davis. But Rodgers moved New York's starting offence up and down the field on his four drives, three of which ended with field goals.
Saleh said he and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich studied offences across the league when they first joined the Jets in 2021 to get a read on how they operated and how they should be defended.
“We would always just be dumbfounded at why Green Bay would always have eight or nine drives in a game,” Saleh said of Rodgers' former team. “And today was an example — just so methodical down the field. An 18-play drive, an 11-play drive, a seven-play drive. Just long, methodical drives that eat up clock and get the game moving.
“He’s an impressive dude and he’s a Hall of Famer for a reason.”
Earlier this week, Rodgers thought back to when the injury occurred against the Bills, saying there were “a lot of disappointing, heartbreaking times.” He acknowledged he wasn't immediately sure what his playing future was, but then tried to speed up his recovery to potentially come back late in the season if the Jets were in playoff contention. Once they were out of the postseason race, Rodgers focused on being healthy for this season.
“There were some tough moments — obviously watching us struggle and watching my rehab, probably the Groundhog Day aspect of it,” Rodgers said. “Driving in the morning, five hours there, driving back. There were frustrating times, but I think it just makes you enjoy these moments more.”
Rodgers won't play in the Jets' first two preseason games and Saleh said they'll have discussions about whether the quarterback will play in the finale against the Giants on Aug. 24 — although the coach said it's his “instinct” to have Rodgers sit. In the meantime, Rodgers is using the scrimmage and then joint practices against the Jets' three preseason opponents as tuneups for the season.
AGE GAP
At age 40, Rodgers is the oldest player in the NFL. Rookie running Braelon Allen, a fourth-rounder out of Wisconsin, is the youngest at 20 — half his quarterback's age.
That led to a stunning realization for Rodgers.
“He was definitely a little tripped out about it at first when I first met him,” Allen recalled. “But from what I had heard, he had saw some Wisconsin games in my freshman year, so he knew that I was playing at 17 or whatever. So that was really the first thing that he had said to me.
“But he was like, ‘First guy I’ve ever played with that could literally be my kid.’ So that that was pretty funny.”
NOTES: Saleh said nickel CB Michael Carter II will miss a week or two with an ankle injury. ... LT Tyron Smith and RT Morgan Moses had veteran rest days. ... WR Malik Taylor sat out with a shoulder injury that Saleh said wasn't serious. ... CB Sauce Gardner returned to the team after an excused absence Friday for a personal matter, but didn't practice. Saleh said Gardner's flight back Friday night was canceled and he didn't arrive until Saturday morning. “I wasn’t going to expose him to injury after traveling,” Saleh said.
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