Aaron Rodgers’s return from the season-ending injury and the Jet’s ability to overhaul their roster this off-season has captured the attention of many in the NFL World. There is finally some optimism around the Gren Gang and people are yet again buying into the hype that has surrounded them, including A-Rod’s former teammate.
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During the recent episode of First Things First, Greg Jennings along with Nick Wright and Kevin Wildes discussed the Jets and brokedown their Super Bowl predictions. Each panelist picked up the 5-6 teams they thought are in the Super Bowl bubble. Jennings picked the Jets as one of his Super Bowl contenders, as he believes in the hype around them.
“You see my teams- the Lions, the Jets. Yes, I have the Jets. I’m buying into the hype. Philadelphia Eagles, the Bengals, the Packers who I absolutely love, the Texans who I love, the 49ers, we’ll breeze over the Chiefs, that’s a no-brainer. Then my outer-got the Ravens, the Cowboys, and these two on the left- I’m pretty high on the Bears.”
As the off-season progressed, Green Gang went from playoff contenders to AFC Championship game participants and now they are one of the teams who could go all the way and lift the Lombardy Trophy. While the hype was there last season before Aaron’s injury, this season it has only grown. It’s all because of the Jet’s dealings in the free agency as well as a good draft.
Jets have assembled a formidable squad for him, one that is capable of competing at the highest level. Their porous 31st-ranked Offensive Line was a major concern going into this season. To remedy the situation, veterans Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses, John Simpson, Jake Hanson, Brady Latham, Willie Tyle, and Kohl Levao have been called in to New York.
They also exercised the fifth-year option on OL Ali Vera Tucker and drafted OT Olu Fashanu with their 1st round pick. To give Rodgers more offensive weapons, they brought in vets Mike Williams, Tyler Harrell, Marcus Riley, TEs Lincoln Sefcik, and Kevin Foelsch, and drafted Malachi Corley, adding to the already existing threat of Garett Wilson and Allen Lazard.
Coming back from a serious injury, A-Rod’s mobility would be a big question. The Jets would want their QB to limit the running and just utilize the pocket to make plays. To counteract this, they have added RBs Braelon Allen and Isaiah Davis to the roster to share the burden with Breece Hall.
Rodgers needs to adapt his gameplay to be more like Brady. Despite coming off an ACL injury, the star QB is still undoubtedly capable of producing spectacular moments. Even though the team has added a lot of firepower, they still feel short in the receiving department and could benefit from another experienced wideout like Davante Adams.
After a tough last month, during which the media criticized him as selfish for missing minicamp, things are starting to get back on track as A-Rod gets in the groove.
Aaron Rodgers Finally Making the Right Headlines
You can’t keep A-Rod out of the media. The former Packers QB negatively grabbed headlines when he took a trip to Egypt, missing the minicamp. The Jets and Saleh didn’t help his cause as they failed to address his absence, throwing him to the news-hungry wolves.
However, after intense scrutiny and a barrage of questions about his commitment, things appear to be returning to normal as Rodgers finally made some right headlines. He is back in the training camp, impressing the fans and his teammates with his skills on the ball.
A-Rod threw a deep ball on the sideline on the first 11-on-11 play to Wilson and completed 9 out of 12 passes during those drills. He also impressed the fans with his fourth-down pass to Tyler Conklin and a walk-off touchdown pass to Allen Lazard.
Looks like Aaron Rodgers is officially back and the Jets would hope that he continues this form into the season and beyond as they chase their 2nd Super Bowl win. And the first in this century.
