After reuniting Davante Adams with Aaron Rodgers, many expected the Jets to announce their comeback with a victory over the Steelers. Surprisingly, it was the same old lackluster performance from the Jets. However, while many are baffled by the lack of progress in the Jets’ offensive output, A-Rod seems to know what the root cause is.
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In his latest appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers candidly admitted that the Jets squad currently lacks belief in themselves. Despite having promising practice sessions, Rodgers noted that the Jets perform poorly in matches because of “a little bit of tightness on game day.”
From an outsider’s lens, attributing the Jets’ offensive woes to a lack of self-belief issue sounds wrong. However, Rodgers is convinced that if the team can trust themselves more, they could go on a winning spree similar to his standout run with the Packers in 2022. “The power of belief is a snowball that can start an avalanche,” said the Super Bowl winner, asserting how belief can change the Jets’ fortunes.
The question now remains: how will the Jets find belief? For the Packers legend, the solution to this problem starts with him. As the talisman of the offense, A-Rod acknowledged that he needs to be a role model to his peers and set precedence with his performances so that others have the leeway to take their time and not worry about making mistakes.
“I got to bring the same energy during the week and lead with that energy. I think there’s been some good leadership moments, but I need to be a great leader and I think part of that is little energetic part and just doing as much as I can to make sure those guys play free and not worry about making mistakes.”
It’s heartening to see Rodgers being self-aware and taking responsibility for the Jets’ poor performance. That said, time is not their friend anymore.
Aaron Rodgers & Co. need to start performing — ASAP
With two wins in seven games, the next 5 games from here on will determine whether the Jets are making the playoffs this year.
In the early part of the season, the blame for the Jets’ losses was placed on HC Robert Saleh and his inability to chalk up offensive plays. To address this issue, the team fired Saleh and sought to improve the offense by reuniting Davante Adams with Aaron Rodgers. They also have a new coach in Jeff Ulbrich who the entire locker room believes in.
The question now is: what else do the Jets need? Defensively, they have been one of the best outfits over the last two years. It’s unanimously agreed that offense is the problem and now that solutions have arrived (in Devante Adams), the only thing left is for the results to follow.
The Jets’ next five games are against the Patriots, Texans, Cardinals, Colts and the Seahawks. On paper, there should be at least four wins out of five for Rodgers & Co. Should Ulbrich and his men do this bare minimum, they’ll have a decent shot at making playoffs.
If not, it will simply be an encore of last season. As Rodgers stated, the team better believe in themselves because the best time for that is right now.
