It was not going to matter whether or not Aaron Rodgers suited up for the New York Jets preseason finale against the Giants on Saturday night.
He looks more than ready already.
The 40-year-old future Hall-of-Famer who is finally preparing for his first full season with Gang Green, ripped the Giants’ secondary to shreds during their joint practice leading up to the preseason finale. He completed 15 of 21 passes for four touchdowns, including a pair to Garrett Wilson — a pin-point 50-yard bomb down the left sideline and a no-look pass from Rodgers while rolling out that got his young receiver wide-open on the right.
“That is my favorite part of the day when we go up against other teams… and to be able to see the offense do their thing,” Jets star cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “It’s like, you know when Garrett’s getting the ball… The way they were operating the two-minute drill, it looked crazy. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, I know they’re probably gonna have big heads walking into the facility tomorrow, but it was crazy.”
On Thursday, reports indicated that Rodgers would not play in Gang Green’s preseason finale, but he does not need it. No other 40-year-olds — and a lot of 25-year-olds — could make the throws that the Jets’ passer was making. Of course, that is commonplace for a quarterback of Rodgers’ caliber, but it also is a byproduct of the extra work that he has been putting in this summer during training camp.
“I would say the camp is much harder this year, and maybe the hardest in the last seven or eight in my career,” Rodgers said. “I knew that. I had a little insight coming into camp that that’s what [head coach Robert Saleh] wanted to do, so I think it’s been good for us you know?… I give Robert a lot of credit because he, from the start of the offseason, said this is going to be a tough training camp and I think it’s been a lot of reps for the ones.
“He told me the other day that we were somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 more reps I think at this point in camp than last year and it feels like it, but it’s good. I think it’s going to allow us to maybe be a little more ready.”
With Rodgers under center behind a rebuilt offensive line and one of the top defenses in the league, the Jets are expected to hit the ground running as long as their veteran quarterback can stay on his feet and healthy.
“We’ve made an effort to kind of be a little bit more efficient in how we work day-to-day with our guys. Because of it, our workload is significantly more this year than it’s been in the past,” Saleh said. “Obviously, I think it’s very beneficial anytime you can practice playing football you’re going to get better at playing football, and I think our guys have responded awesome to it.
“I think they’re starting to feel the difference and how important all these reps have been, and I think they’re feeling it especially as we’ve gone through these joint practices. They’re leaving those practices feeling more and more confident.”
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