EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —The tale of the aging quarterback is as old as time. First, the body breaks down. That impacts the brain, the ability to process in the heat of battle in the same way. Where he was once able to outrun the opponent or absorb a hit, now he’s mostly trying to stay upright. Those hits hurt — getting up from them hurts even more.
When a quarterback is on his last legs, he’s usually the last one to figure it out. But the evidence is there, on the field, in the performance. It’s in the throws he’s making, the throws he’s missing, the throws he’s not even attempting.
A few weeks ago, Aaron Rodgers felt like he found the fountain of youth via a concoction crafted by one of his teammates: cayenne pepper and water. This week, Rodgers and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich insisted that he’s as healthy as he’s been all season. On Monday, Rodgers will turn 41. He might feel healthy now, but for everyone else — those watching him, and those on the field with him — he looks 41.
“I think he’s an older guy, doesn’t want to take big hits like that anymore,” Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams said after Seattle’s 26-21 win over Rodgers and the Jets. “So, sometimes if you feel the guy coming full speed at him, he’s going to chuck it and duck.”
If Sunday’s loss to Seattle was Rodgers’ last game as the Jets’ starting quarterback — though Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said Monday Rodgers is still the starter — the lasting images will be of a throw he didn’t make, of one he did make, and of the way he handled himself in the aftermath of yet another Jets loss that never should have been.
The Jets had stormed to a 21-7 lead on the virtue of a practically perfect start. First-quarter scoring drives ended with touchdown passes from Rodgers to Davante Adams, and to running back Isaiah Davis on a particularly clever design. Kene Nwangwu scored on a 99-yard kickoff return in the second quarter. The Jets forced two turnovers on kickoffs, the second one putting them in Seahawks territory. Rodgers got the Jets to the 9-yard line after a couple of completions.
Then, wide receiver Garrett Wilson broke wide open to the corner of the end zone, and … Rodgers missed him, overthrowing it out of bounds. “Wind was a little inconsistent,” Rodgers said. “Maybe I should have thrown it a little flatter because he was wide open. I’ve got to hit that, doesn’t matter, windy, I’ve played in wind before. It was inconsistent, but I’ve got to hit that.”
The next play was worse. Williams dropped into coverage and Rodgers didn’t see him. Rodgers tried to force a quick throw to Wilson, but Williams picked it off and then ran it 92 yards for a touchdown. According to ESPN, it was the longest interception return ever for a defensive lineman, coming from Williams, a 2015 Jets first-round pick. What should have been a 28-7 lead instead shrunk to 21-13, and the Jets never recovered.
“It kind of changed the momentum of the game,” Rodgers said.
Added Ulbrich: “It’s big for sure. At the same time, those moments are going to happen in games and you have to overcome them. Really good teams, when adversity hits and you do something like a self-inflicted wound, you respond, and we didn’t respond like we needed to.”
The Jets gained 107 total yards on their two scoring drives in the first quarter. They gained 151 over their last eight possessions. Running back Breece Hall fumbled twice, losing one, continuing an alarming trend (he’s fumbled six times this season, a career high).
“I feel like this year has probably been the most trying year of my life, just having a lot of expectations for myself and not being on the successful side of that,” Hall said. “I work hard every day but no excuses. If I can’t take care of the ball, I shouldn’t be in the game.”
In the fourth quarter, the Jets were called for eight penalties — five of them were on the defense and in third- or fourth-down situations. Starting with the Williams pick-6, the Seahawks scored 19 consecutive points to end the game.
“We just gotta keep going,” said cornerback Sauce Gardner. “Obviously, I feel like if it was analytics, it would say if you recovered a (fumbled) kickoff and scored a kick return you’re probably not supposed to lose. Literally everything was going our way. In my three years being here, that was the first time where I was like, ‘Can’t nothing go wrong for us.’ … I’m kinda shocked. I’ve never seen nothing like it. Everything was going our way and we still lose. That’s just straight up, not sugarcoating nothing. I don’t know how that happened.”
Hall said he felt like he cost the Jets the game with his lost fumble in the third quarter, but really, Rodgers was the center of the Jets’ universe of problems on Sunday. For the fourth time this season, Rodgers attempted at least 29 passes yet finished with fewer than 200 passing yards; he hasn’t thrown for 300 yards in a game since 2021.
Rodgers’ first pass of the game was a deep shot — a rarity this season — and Wilson got behind the defensive back. Rodgers underthrew him. Incomplete. Over the last three games, Rodgers attempted 21 passes that traveled 10 or more yards in the air; he completed five of them. He appears hesitant to throw it down the field, perhaps for fear of taking any big hits.
Rodgers has shown flashes of his old connection with Adams since the Jets traded for his friend, but mostly the two have been out of sync — Adams had five catches on 12 targets against the Seahawks and his catch percentage with the Jets (53.4) is his lowest since 2015, his second NFL season. Rodgers has the worst completion percentage of his career (62.5) and the Jets are 3-9, his worst-ever record through 12 games. Five times this season, Rodgers had the ball in the fourth quarter with the chance to win — against the Broncos, Vikings, Bills, Colts and Seahawks. The Jets went 0-5 in those games.
If Rodgers is feeling healthier than ever, why isn’t he performing up to the standard he set throughout a Hall of Fame career?
“Well, there are 11 guys on the field,” Rodgers said. “Sometimes it’s my fault. Definitely multiple times today. And then the details aren’t there in some other spots, too.”
For the first time in his career, Rodgers was questioned about the idea of being benched. Ulbrich, for the first time since becoming interim head coach, wouldn’t even touch on how he thought his quarterback played, instead saying he needs to watch the film before he could comment. About the idea of Rodgers being benched for Tyrod Taylor, Ulbrich said: “Not as of today.”
It’s difficult to fathom how it’s gotten this bad.
Rodgers might have been angered by those questions at one point. He probably would have been justified for feeling that way — but not anymore. On Sunday, he felt more resigned to the possibility that he won’t be starting for the Jets for much longer.
“Yeah, I don’t know,” Rodgers said. “We’ll figure that out when we have those conversations.”
Rodgers said he felt like he did in 2018, with the Packers, when there was a possibility he’d be benched; he never was. This time, he said, he’ll “have conversations with (Ulbrich)” to see what he’s thinking.
Does he want to keep playing, if healthy?
And how would he react if he’s benched?
“It’s a hypothetical,” Rodgers said. “I’ll tell you after the fact if that happens.”
The Jets are 3-9. Hope was lost long ago. Owner Woody Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh in Week 5 and general manager Joe Douglas during the bye. The organization has already started preparing for 2025. Rodgers, it seems, will not be part of those plans.
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