Cimini: How QB Aaron Rodgers is putting his stamp on the Jets

[C Mart]

Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer Aug 10, 2023, 06:00 AM ET

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The New York Jets' training facility is 224,000 square feet. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, in 108 days since his ballyhooed arrival, has made his presence felt in every corner of the building.

The locker room. The weight room. The cafeteria. The classroom.

The team's most accomplished player since Brett Favre in 2008, Rodgers has captivated the organization with ... well, being himself. The newness hasn't worn off, and everything the 39-year-old quarterback does -- from reading defenses to reciting old-school hip-hop lyrics -- leaves an impression. Even the seemingly mundane moments get amplified and talked about among the players.

"In the locker room, we talk about it: It's like watching Kobe [Bryant] or Michael Jordan work in football," defensive tackle Solomon Thomas said. "The details he puts in, how he commands the offense, it's insane watching him play."

Here's an Aaron Rodgers photo album, if you will, with behind-the-scenes snapshots from OTAs until now:

---

Rodgers likes things a certain way, and he believes part of his job with the Jets is making sure his teammates know that way.

One day, he explained to center Connor McGovern a pass-protection adjustment he likes to call against a certain blitz. It came with a demonstration.

Making like an offensive lineman, Rodgers got down in a pass set and executed the footwork for the play. His technique was flawless, according to McGovern, who was blown away.

"I've never seen a quarterback do an offensive lineman's footwork," McGovern said. "He knows it down to that detail -- not only what we're going to do, but what our technique should look like. Perfect steps. Wow, that's crazy."

Rodgers doesn't hang with the same group of players in the cafeteria. He's always on the move, making sure he sits with different teammates at each meal. It could be the wide receivers at breakfast, the rookies at lunch -- that sort of rotation. Players have heard him turn down invitations, saying he needed to spend time with another group.

His goal is to build relationships.

"That's huge, especially from a [future] Hall of Fame guy," tight end Tyler Conklin said. "That goes a long way for a lot of people."

---

Linebacker Quincy Williams was working out in the weight room when he heard Rodgers talking about hip-hop.

"He's like, 'Play this, play that,'" Williams said, smiling. "I'm like, 'How do you know that song?'"

Williams said it's "surprising" that Rodgers knows so much about hip-hop.

"Yeah, I am [a hip-hop fan] -- '90s, though," said Rodgers, mentioning Tupac Shakur, Warren G, Notorious B.I.G., Mase and Snoop Dogg.

And the Chico, California, native unsurprisingly said he prefers "the West Coast guys."

---

On the first day of training camp, Rodgers was barking signals when he noticed a safety creeping toward the line of scrimmage for a possible blitz. He had fun with it, calling out the safety and daring him to come. So much for that disguise by the defense.

It has been a long time since the Jets had a quarterback with that kind of chutzpah. Coach Robert Saleh said he loves the way Rodgers "messes with the defense. ... It makes me laugh. He's a coach that can still play football."

Defensive end Carl Lawson is a craftsman when it comes to rushing the passer. He's always studying tape, looking to create countermoves for his repertoire. He hatches a plan and takes it to the practice field for testing, except it has been tough this summer.

Because Rodgers delivers the ball so fast.

"Sometimes I'm not even getting out of my stance," Lawson said. "It's like, 'Whoosh! Did the play happen already?'"

In his fourth MVP season, 2021, Rodgers averaged 2.63 seconds from snap to pass, the fourth-quickest release time in the league, according to ESPN Stats & Information data.

Fellow defensive end John Franklin-Myers also has found facing Rodgers frustrating at times. The defense has to change its signals because he deciphers them so quickly and calls out the plays. One day, Rodgers was so successful in anticipating line stunts that Franklin-Myers had to ask his secret.

Foot placement, Rodgers explained. He noticed how the defensive linemen were shifting their feet before the snap.

"It keeps us honest," Franklin-Myers said.

---

Rodgers usually is all business in the classroom. He's so intense that he sometimes calls on teammates, asking them to explain specifics about certain plays. Players have said it keeps them on their toes; they don't want to disappoint their quarterback.

But sometimes learning can be fun.

Passing-game coordinator Todd Downing, with help from instructional designer John Vieira, uses "Jeopardy!" style questions to test the quarterbacks on various facets of the offense. That's in Rodgers' wheelhouse. He's a "Jeopardy!" fan who has guest hosted the show, which he describes as a life highlight. He also has won playing "Celebrity Jeopardy!" In Downing's classroom version of the quiz show, he uses pictures of Rodgers on the big screen.

"Some of these kids haven't seen any of the 'Celebrity Jeopardy!' stuff," Rodgers said, grinning. "We're making references about [former host] Alex Trebek and Sean Connery [from "Saturday Night Live" spoofs of "Celebrity Jeopardy!"], and they have no idea who even Sean Connery is. So it's a great learning experience, some of the pop culture for the young guys."

Rodgers is like a point guard in transition. When he sees a vulnerability in the defense, he adjusts on the fly and fires a quick pass, sometimes a no-look. He expects his receivers to see the game as he does and be ready for the ball.

In a recent practice, Rodgers changed the play at the line when he noticed safety Ashtyn Davis lining up as a linebacker, creating an eight-man box. Rodgers communicated the audible with the help of hand signals, took a quick drop and fired a 7-yard slant to wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr., who slipped a tackle and blew past the safety for a 79-yard touchdown.

"Aaron is a tricky guy when it comes to certain things ... tricky as in, he'll throw it when you think he's not throwing it, especially the no-looks," Hardman said.

---

The Jets hold evening walk-throughs. The players are hot and tired after long days, so it's easy for minds to wander. They'd rather be in an air-conditioned hotel room than a deserted practice field.

This setting, players say, is where Rodgers is the most focused.

Few things irk him more than wasted reps in a walk-through, so he tries to keep everyone on edge. Sometimes he will deviate from the script by calling a play they ran two months ago in OTAs, testing their attentiveness and recall.

"The best players are the smartest players," Rodgers said. "So anytime we're on that field, whether it's a half-line walk-through or a full 11-on-11 play, they should be playing with their brains turned on."

---

Middle linebacker C.J. Mosley is like Rodgers in that he values the walk-throughs. "The best part of camp," Mosley said. He likes them because there's a heavy emphasis on the cerebral aspect to the game, so they invariably turn into chess matches. Rodgers makes the pre-snap checks for the offense; Mosley makes them for the defense.

One evening, Mosley recognized the offensive formation and called out the play. Rodgers looked directly at him.

"What did you say?" an incredulous Rodgers asked from across the line of scrimmage.

Mosley thought he had one-upped the 19-year veteran -- until Rodgers changed the play at the last second. Mosley, marveling at Rodgers' savvy, thought to himself, "That's different right there."

Looking back, Mosley called that cat-and-mouse instance "one of the coolest things I've seen so far" in training camp.

Another seemingly mundane moment that seems bigger with Rodgers at quarterback.

[C Mart]

And via The Athletic:

"Rodgers has also made a valuable impact on third-year quarterback Zach Wilson. The pair have been friends for quite some time, so the Jets knew the chemistry would be fine despite the dynamic of bringing in an established veteran to take over the job of the 2021 No. 2 pick.

Rodgers has helped Wilson improve his command of the offense. For example, if Rodgers is running the two- or four-minute offense in practice, he’ll go through each play afterward with Wilson to detail what he was thinking, why he checked a play at the line of scrimmage, how he saw a route against a specific coverage or even why he let the clock run down to a certain point.

It’s impossible to predict how long Rodgers will be with the Jets or how Wilson’s future with the team will play out. But Wilson has benefited from Rodgers’ tutelage."

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

As a Jets fan I love hearing all this but it also makes me cringe a little bit that they’re still flooding these guys with “why is Aaron so great?!”. 
 

[Warfish]

32 minutes ago, Zachtomims47 said:

As a Jets fan I love hearing all this but it also makes me cringe a little bit that they’re still flooding these guys with “why is Aaron so great?!”. 
 

I don't think it's any harm now.

Now, if we get to Week 1, Week 2 and they're still fawning.....I presume that would mean AR is playing great, so again, what's the harm. 

Fawning like a schoolgirl to the media doesn't imply they're not the things they should themselves, does it?

[FootballLove]

It will be great to see if the fans coalesce around the team and Aaron if we get off on the wrong foot and lose a cpl games early.

But even if the fans (and the media) do a 180 and go south on Aaron, he has the will power to lift a team up by their bootstraps. He never panics, just keeps getting himself and the team better. We saw this last season when the Pack lost a bunch of games and were out of the PO race...Aaron said to just told his teammates to just stay focused, and like that they won a bunch of games late and were one win away of makinig the POs.

I can see him doing something like that around here if he needs to!

[T0mShane]

The national coverage of this aspect of Rodgers’ presence here has been disgusting. Every big NFL podcast, ESPN, etc, mocked the living sh*t out the first episode of Hard Knocks because of the fawning coverage and comments re: Rodgers. Conveniently, they forget Peyton Manning going to the Broncos and completely subjugating John Fox and Mike McCoy to the degree that Fox wouldn’t even talk to the offense after awhile, and Manning deputized his backup QBs to chart plays for him. Nobody mentions Tom Brady pulling up in Tampa and throwing Byron Leftwich’s offense into the trash, so much so that Bruce Arians got kicked upstairs because Brady got tired of him. I get that Rodgers says some annoying, contentious sh*t and that he’s a weird Cali dude besides, but for the media to be openly rooting against the Jets and Rodgers right now is pathetic. 

[Beerfish]

As I've said before this season has only two possible outcomes,

1 - Spectacular success where the Jets are really really good , make the playoffs and probably win a game or two at least

or

2 - Colossal failure.

[rangerous]

10 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

As I've said before this season has only to possible outcomes,

1 - Spectacular success where the Jets are really really good , make the playoffs and probably win a game or two at least

or

2 - Colossal failure.

Ain’t that the truth. I think we’ve all seen jet teams paying too much attention to press clippings and not enough to what happens on the field.  The spate of penalties over the past couple of seasons kinda indicates a lack of discipline.  These are those hidden yards that parcells used to harp on.  Hopefully Rodgers will be enough of a leader on the field and in the locker room so players will be held accountable for stupid plays.

im leaning towards some good success this season although the true measure of this team won’t be seen until game four or five.  Hopefully they get there with a couple of wins.

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

29 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

As I've said before this season has only to possible outcomes,

1 - Spectacular success where the Jets are really really good , make the playoffs and probably win a game or two at least

or

2 - Colossal failure.

What’s a colossal failure? Like 5-12? Broncos type season?

I see it being more of a frustrating annoying losing season if it goes that way. Dumb mistakes leading to a 8-9 season. 

[T0mShane]

43 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

As I've said before this season has only to possible outcomes,

1 - Spectacular success where the Jets are really really good , make the playoffs and probably win a game or two at least

or

2 - Colossal failure.

If the season is a failure, it’d be because 1. Rodgers gets hurt, or 2. Sauce gets hurt and the defense falls on its face. Presuming we get ~15 starts out of Rodgers and Saleh holds up his end of the bargain defensively, it’s really difficult to imagine the nightmare Denver scenario. 

[Dunnie]

If the season is a failure, it’d be because 1. Rodgers gets hurt, or 2. Sauce gets hurt and the defense falls on its face. Presuming we get ~15 starts out of Rodgers and Saleh holds up his end of the bargain defensively, it’s really difficult to imagine the nightmare Denver scenario. 

If the team is that reliant on two lynch pin players ... It is not a very good team.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[#27TheDominator]

5 minutes ago, Dunnie said:

If the team is that reliant on two lynch pin players ... It is not a very good team.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
 

How reliant are they?  Same team was rolling just great until they lost Breece Hall and AVT. The defense took a huge jump last year and didn't face much adversity.  I get not trusting how good they might be but there is no reason to expect they will fall apart if Sauce misses a few games.

[T0mShane]

21 minutes ago, Dunnie said:

If the team is that reliant on two lynch pin players ... It is not a very good team.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
 

One is a Hall of Fame QB and the other is one of the ten best defensive players in the sport

[Cyberjet]

39 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

If the season is a failure, it’d be because 1. Rodgers gets hurt, or 2. Sauce gets hurt and the defense falls on its face. Presuming we get ~15 starts out of Rodgers and Saleh holds up his end of the bargain defensively, it’s really difficult to imagine the nightmare Denver scenario. 

Rodgers is more valuable to this team. The Jets would survive Sauce

[Jetpain]

Good read but a bit frustrating that AR needs to point all these things out and that Saleh doesnt have positional coaching in place to see many of these same things.   Glad AR is here and being a good teammate and leader. 

Also enjoyed JFM getting frustrated that  AR gets rid of the ball so quick it doesnt give JFM time to even make a late hit on the QB

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

3 minutes ago, Jetpain said:

Good read but a bit frustrating that AR needs to point all these things out and that Saleh doesnt have positional coaching in place to see many of these same things. 

Also enjoyed JFM getting frustrated that  AR gets rid of the ball so quick it doesnt give JFM time to even make a late hit on the QB

Meh. Outside of the ZW stuff it’s mostly the players communicating with each other with what they see and what works and Rodgers demanding the best. 

[Beerfish]

1 hour ago, Zachtomims47 said:

What’s a colossal failure? Like 5-12? Broncos type season?

I see it being more of a frustrating annoying losing season if it goes that way. Dumb mistakes leading to a 8-9 season. 

A Ryan Fitzpatrick type year of 10-6 and miss he playoffs would be a colossal failure.

We have an 'all world' defense, offensive weapons and we just sold out everything on Rodgers.

[Beerfish]

1 hour ago, T0mShane said:

If the season is a failure, it’d be because 1. Rodgers gets hurt, or 2. Sauce gets hurt and the defense falls on its face. Presuming we get ~15 starts out of Rodgers and Saleh holds up his end of the bargain defensively, it’s really difficult to imagine the nightmare Denver scenario. 

With what the jets have done this off season and the talent they have colossal failure is a wide category.   Missing the playoffs even with like 10 wins would be a colossal failure.

We simply do not know what Rodgers has left in the tank until we actually see reg season games.

[SomebodytoAnybody47]

13 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

A Ryan Fitzpatrick type year of 10-6 and miss he playoffs would be a colossal failure.

We have an 'all world' defense, offensive weapons and we just sold out everything on Rodgers.

Lol that’s fair. That is a colossal failure and would be one of the worst outcomes. 

[batman10023]

31 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

A Ryan Fitzpatrick type year of 10-6 and miss he playoffs would be a colossal failure.

We have an 'all world' defense, offensive weapons and we just sold out everything on Rodgers.

That is not even close to a colossal failure. 
 

plus there is 17 games now. 

[Jetsplayer21]

8 hours ago, C Mart said:

And via The Athletic:

"Rodgers has also made a valuable impact on third-year quarterback Zach Wilson. The pair have been friends for quite some time, so the Jets knew the chemistry would be fine despite the dynamic of bringing in an established veteran to take over the job of the 2021 No. 2 pick.

Rodgers has helped Wilson improve his command of the offense. For example, if Rodgers is running the two- or four-minute offense in practice, he’ll go through each play afterward with Wilson to detail what he was thinking, why he checked a play at the line of scrimmage, how he saw a route against a specific coverage or even why he let the clock run down to a certain point.

It’s impossible to predict how long Rodgers will be with the Jets or how Wilson’s future with the team will play out. But Wilson has benefited from Rodgers’ tutelage."

Aaron has to toughen Zach up. He can retain all the knowledge from Rodgers, but it won’t do any good if he is still a scared weak little boy back there. 

[jgb]

I can’t wait for the Jets OL to look competent and the Nauvoo Legion to credit Joe Tippman.

[gdfodder]

Haven’t really paid attention to mini in awhile but this is a decent write up. Who’s pumped for the season?


Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

[Beerfish]

44 minutes ago, batman10023 said:

That is not even close to a colossal failure. 
 

plus there is 17 games now. 

It was a colossal failure for fitzpatrick that year according to many and it would be for a jets team that has brought in coaches and players galore for rodgers and despite his contract reneg invested money and lots of draft resources to get him.

Yeah, that would be a big fail miss the playoffs.

[jgb]

11 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

It was a colossal failure for fitzpatrick that year according to many and it would be for a jets team that has brought in coaches and players galore for rodgers and despite his contract reneg invested money and lots of draft resources to get him.

Yeah, that would be a big fail miss the playoffs.

Missing the playoffs would be a giant fail they may get everyone fired 

[Jetsplayer21]

3 hours ago, jgb said:

Missing the playoffs would be a giant fail they may get everyone fired 

If miss playoffs JD may be gone. Even if jets don’t go far into playoffs , maybe due to OL. That’s all on JD, and he’s gone. Saleh is safe as long as rodgers is here, because Hackett is here. But it would jetslike to fire HC and GM, keep OC ha.

[jgb]

22 minutes ago, Jetsplayer21 said:

If miss playoffs JD may be gone. Even if jets don’t go far into playoffs , maybe due to OL. That’s all on JD, and he’s gone. Saleh is safe as long as rodgers is here, because Hackett is here. But it would jetslike to fire HC and GM, keep OC ha.

I’m not sure whether Saleh or JD is safer but the Jets have to make the playoffs this year. 

[Jetsplayer21]

43 minutes ago, jgb said:

I’m not sure whether Saleh or JD is safer but the Jets have to make the playoffs this year. 

I think woody will demand more than just making playoffs. Home game or road win is minimum for JD to keep his job. Maybe it’s higher..

[jgb]

3 minutes ago, Jetsplayer21 said:

I think woody will demand more than just making playoffs. Home game or road win is minimum for JD to keep his job. Maybe it’s higher..

You might be right but Woody is a noodge and I don’t see him firing anyone after the first playoff year in 13.

[FootballLove]

Well, Joe Douglas will be due for an extension pretty soon....he's starting his 5th season now, and next year will be his final on the initial 6 yr deal. Most GMs are extended (or fired) before starting their final year.

So....Joe will either be made a multi millionaire (again), or fired. But I can't imagine Joe Douglas on the open market too long. 6 minutes maybe? Tops?

If JD gets canned, which team would you LEAST like to see him go to? What if Kraft fires wild Bill and hires Joe? How crazy would that be.

[Jetsplayer21]

49 minutes ago, FootballLove said:

Well, Joe Douglas will be due for an extension pretty soon....he's starting his 5th season now, and next year will be his final on the initial 6 yr deal. Most GMs are extended (or fired) before starting their final year.

So....Joe will either be made a multi millionaire (again), or fired. But I can't imagine Joe Douglas on the open market too long. 6 minutes maybe? Tops?

If JD gets canned, which team would you LEAST like to see him go to? What if Kraft fires wild Bill and hires Joe? How crazy would that be.

Ha he will be hired as someone’s flunky. For drafting biggest bust in NFL history, and failing to do the number 1 reason why he was brought here to fix, the OLine. 5 yrs is quite a long time to fix something that is your supposed specialty. I think Aaron will bail him out though, and hope this line can just do enough to allow Aaron to be great, take team where it’s been so hungry to go.

[FootballLove]

52 minutes ago, Jetsplayer21 said:

Ha he will be hired as someone’s flunky. For drafting biggest bust in NFL history, and failing to do the number 1 reason why he was brought here to fix, the OLine. 5 yrs is quite a long time to fix something that is your supposed specialty. I think Aaron will bail him out though, and hope this line can just do enough to allow Aaron to be great, take team where it’s been so hungry to go.

For fun I Googled Joe's initial deal. Jets offered him $1.5 million per year, 4 years. Ended up doubling that to $3M per, and 6 years. I'll never need an agent, but if I ever do I want Joe's agent! I wonder how much Gase had to do with Woody opening his purse strings....GM pay comes right out of his checking account, so I give woody some credit. 

And ya, Joe was supposed to be an O-Line Whisperer. I guess we have to wait to see how this season pans out, but yikes so far.

[slimjasi]

2 hours ago, jgb said:

You might be right but Woody is a noodge and I don’t see him firing anyone after the first playoff year in 13.

Nor should he, particularly if Rodgers is definitely playing two years 

[Jetsplayer21]

35 minutes ago, FootballLove said:

For fun I Googled Joe's initial deal. Jets offered him $1.5 million per year, 4 years. Ended up doubling that to $3M per, and 6 years. I'll never need an agent, but if I ever do I want Joe's agent! I wonder how much Gase had to do with Woody opening his purse strings....GM pay comes right out of his checking account, so I give woody some credit. 

And ya, Joe was supposed to be an O-Line Whisperer. I guess we have to wait to see how this season pans out, but yikes so far.

do remember that, and I too just refreshed myself on details. He was playing hard to get and nobody else wanted to work with gase lol, so he had woody by the nuts. He is betting a lot on this Oline. I do think it wether it holds or not, will impact if he is back.. 

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/jets/news/new-york-jets-end-season-with-offensive-line-shambles-joe-douglas