For the first time in a long time, the New York Jets have championships aspirations. That happened when they acquired four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers.
Last season, the Jets, who finished 7-10, had a fourth-rated defense and decent young wide receivers, but whether it was Zach Wilson or Mike White, they did not have good quarterback play. In addition, on offense, the Jets averaged only 17.4 points per game, which was near the bottom of the league.
Now, they have a quarterback.
On Thursday, Rodgers addressed the media for the first time at Jets’ training camp. According to the 10-time Pro Bowler, the team has to focus on the little things and take it one step at a time.
“You want to be a part of a place that has high expectations, and there is a lot of positivity around here, which I think is a good thing, but we have to temper our expectations early on in camp and focus on the little things to get there,” Rodgers said. “It’s a long season; it’s a journey. There is going to be ups and downs, there is going to be peaks and valleys, and I think we just have to build this thing the right way. There is a lot of excitement, though. That is fun. When I was out in Tahoe, hearing the Jets fans and the response was pretty special. Obviously, with all the positivity comes some people looking to knock you down a little bit.
“There’s going to be a lot of that, so we have to deal with that the right way. An old coach of mine said, “Our greatest difficulty is going to be handling success.” I think that will be true this year for us. As we get into the season and have some success, we have to handle it the right way. Obviously, last year they had a good start to the season and couldn’t finish it off. If we want to be playing in January, we have to be consistent throughout the season.”
New York has a lot of young talent on their roster, and Rodgers believes that roster can help the Jets be successful for the next few seasons.
“I love being around the young energy, that excitement,” he said. “There is a great feel to this team, of guys who are young and super talented on their first contract, many of them. Obviously, ‘Q’ (Quinnen Williams) just got paid. When you have so many great players on rookie deals, it’s pretty exciting. Knowing you can do something, you have a good window. It’s not just a one-year thing where you can be competitive, which is fun.”
Rodgers spent the first 18 years of his career in Green Bay, but Green Bay is nothing like New York, which Rodgers acknowledged.
“It was nothing like New York,” Rodgers said about Green Bay. “I understand that. I appreciate that. I’ve been in an incredible football town for 18 years. This is an incredible sports town. There’s a lot a lot of great franchises here, so I look forward to everything that comes with that.”
The Jets will be on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in August, and Rodgers knows it will bring more attention to the team.
“We kind of knew that they were really wanting us to be part of “Hard Knocks,” he said. “This just brings more attention to us. I don’t think there’s anything nefarious about the way it went down, but I’m excited about people getting to see what we’re all about here and then the interactions with you all during the weeks.”
It should be interesting to see how Rodgers and the Jets will handle “Hard Knocks” and the new expectations. The pressure is on; let’s see how the Jets deal with it.
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