Aaron Rodgers, whose two seasons in New York have not gone to plan, left the door open to playing another season and returning to the Jets. Is there mutual interest in hoping a third time is the charm?
“Absolutely I would,” interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said Friday when asked if he would want the soon-to-be 41-year-old quarterback back next season.
“He’s just so talented and he’s proven over all the years just to be one of the generational players in this league,” he continued. “I would love for him to get an opportunity to play healthy football and see what that looks like for an entire season.”
Rodgers has managed to make every start in his second go-round with Gang Green after his debut campaign lasted all of four plays before he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the opening week.
And despite an aggressive rehab last year and a summer to get healthy, the QB got banged up early on this year and has been nagged by a series of lower-body ailments that first cropped up during minicamp and have hamstrung him into the regular season. The result: 2,258 passing yards on 351 attempts (6.4 yards per attempt) with a 62.4 percent completion with 15 touchdowns to seven interceptions.
The numbers have been fine, but far from expected. The Jets’ record is the most glaring issue: 3-7, which puts Rodgers on track for his third losing season out of 17 as a starter.
When asked this week if this year’s struggles have impacted his thoughts on continuing to play, he said, “Not really. Not for the negative, no.”
“I’m not playing as well as I would’ve liked to play, for sure,” Rodgers said. “The beauty in this game is it’s a team game. The frustrating part is if you’re a great competitor and hold yourself to a standard and it’s not unrealistic. I haven’t reset a standard this year.”
Ulbrich, who was elevated after Robert Saleh was fired in early October, has gone 1-4 since taking over. And while his future with the organization beyond this season is also in doubt, the former defensive coordinator earned praise from Rodgers this week for changes he’s made around the team.
“What [Ulbrich’s] done, the way that we’ve practiced, I feel like there has been great changes,” he said. “I feel like he’s done some really good things. I think he is an NFL head coach, whether it’s here moving forward or down the line. He’s a leader of men and I’ll stand by him and I’d love to play for him until the end. I have a lot of love and respect for him.”
