FLORHAM PARK — In his first training camp practice as a member of the New York Jets, Aaron Rodgers may not have had the type of on-field fireworks many had hoped, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.
New York’s offense struggled at times throughout their opening practice with pre-snap penalties, slow movement, and the occasional bad throw but their new franchise quarterback isn’t too concerned.
“Mistakes can happen, you actually want them to happen at this time. It’s the repeat ones that give you pause,” Rodgers explained. “That’s why today, we had quite a few little issues but now we can go back, watch, and talk about them, and as long as we fix them, we’re moving in the right direction.”
Rodgers’ comments Thursday after practice are signs of a different quarterback than he was when he was a younger player with the Green Bay Packers. Even his former teammates from Green Bay have begun to notice the stark differences.
“He was hard to play with at first in Green Bay. He was a little more ‘You guys have to pick it up.’ He’s a little slower here and realizes there are a lot of new players…He’s taking his time. I’m seeing how much he cares for these guys and how much he wants to put the icing on his cake in terms of his career,” Lazard explained.
New York’s new quarterback has always agreed with the adage of “you play how you practice” but the change in his leadership style is something that Rodgers has been very focused in showing throughout the last few months with his new team.
“I’ve grown a lot over the years…As you get older, you see things a little clearer. Hindsight is 20/20, you try to rectify some of the things you did a certain way that you could have done better,” Rodgers explained. “I think it’s always important to have patience in shorts and helmets.”
While Rodgers’ admitted that patience could run thin with repeat mistakes, the change in how he’s handled conversations within the halls of 1 Jets Drive has rejuvenated not just the entire team, but his overall career.
“I love being around the young energy, the excitement. There’s a great feel to this team. We have so many great players…Every day I’ve been waking up just excited to come down the driveway and come into the facility. Everything is new and exciting,” Rodgers stated.
With Rodgers in tow, the Jets have plenty of high expectations entering the 2023 season. New York’s entrance to “Hard Knocks” will only add to the level of excitement and publicity that will come from trying to end a decade-long playoff drought.
For a team that finished 7-10 last season, but began the season 7-4, it’s the type of tool that Rodgers has used to be an important voice throughout the entire locker room.
“It’s a long journey… There’s gonna be ups and downs, peaks and valleys. I think we just got to build this thing the right way. As we get into the season and have some success, we have to handle it the right way,” Rodgers said. “Obviously last year they had a good start to the season but couldn’t finish it off. If we want to play in January, we need to be consistent throughout the season.”
At 39 years old, Rodgers understands there is still a long way to go before the regular season actually kicks off. With his previous experience, he’s become as much a coach on the field as any other quarterback in NFL history. It’s something that the quarterback values and is honored to have heading into the twilight of his career.
“When I was a young basketball player, I remember Tree Rollins who was a player-coach. I don’t think of myself as Tree but being the older player on the team, that’s part of the responsibility,” Rodgers explained. “Luckily this is a great staff they hired on this side of the ball…It’s exciting to be back in this style that I know well. The staff is really solid.”
Comparisons to physical two-way basketball stars aside, the change in leadership styles has been apparent from those close to Rodgers. As he continues into his first training camp with the Jets, that new style might just be exactly what the team needs to reach a point in their franchise that they haven’t done in a very long time.
