THE TWILIGHT OF AARON RODGERS IS DIFFICULT TO WATCH AND SHOULD END SOON
He threw three interceptions Sunday, including a pick-six, and playing poorly in a league where Joe Flacco is better in his rehash, Rodgers should ponder retiring with a 2-3 Jets team headed nowhere
There was a late moment Sunday in London, which probably ended the meaningful career of Aaron Rodgers, when he passed a ball that was tipped and wound up in his hands. He could have ran with it, but he purposely let it drop to the Tottenham turf. He’d have been smashed, and as his 41st birthday nears, what was the point?
He saw two more chances. On the first, he was mauled by two Minnesota tacklers and threw it away. On the second, with 54 seconds left, he flung a pass near the end zone for Mike Williams. There was jostling by cornerback Stephon Gilmore, but not enough for a pass interference call. The ball was intercepted, for the third time of Rodgers’ evening, and the New York Jets are 2-3 as coach Robert Saleh shakes his head, knowing he’ll be looking for work soon enough.
It has reached the point where a torn Achilles tendon should have ended his days, his attempt to reach only his second Super Bowl since the one he won 13 years ago. Rodgers was looking at the new “king” of the NFL, Sam Darnold, who once failed with the Jets and is 5-0 golden with the help of Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell. He struggles to score, gaining only 244 passing yards on 54 throws — for a gruesome 4.5 average — and was sacked three times in a 23-17 defeat. He can’t move behind a shaky line. He hasn’t developed a relationship with receiver Garrett Wilson and prefers to yell at him than mesh. His old Green Bay target, Davante Adams, is available in a trade with Las Vegas, but why?
All we saw overseas was linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel stepping away from the line, intercepting a Rodgers pass and returning it 63 yards for a pick-six. Even in a shaky AFC, you worry more about Rodgers’ health than his ability to rally an abysmally bad franchise. He became the ninth NFL quarterback to throw for 60,000 regular-season passing yards. So? He looked old, frail, washed. Why was he grasping his left ankle after a mean hit in the third quarter?
“They were trying to get me in the (medical) tent. ... I said ‘Screw it, I’m going back out there,’ ’’ Rodgers said of a low sprain.
And his performance? “In a game where you lose by six, plays like that are exponentially highlighted,” he said. “Three turnovers for me is definitely out of character, and I’m disappointed.”
Around the league, Rodgers isn’t nearly as good as the brilliant rehash of Joe Flacco, who threw for three touchdowns and 359 yards in an Indianapolis loss. Fans much prefer focusing on Patrick Mahomes, C.J. Stroud, Darnold, Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson and the return of Joe Burrow. Rodgers is in the second year of a three-year, $112.5 million contract. No way he sees the third season. “Obviously, up and down,” Saleh said of him afterward. “The biggest thing we talked about was playing clean ball. Unfortunately, that pick-six was a big difference in the game.”
The pick-six might have finished the legend. “He told me, Christmas came early for me,’’ Van Ginkel said of Rodgers. “I just told him thank you. I just kind of got close to him and he made that comment to me.”
Speak up, Aaron, when nothing should be said.
Of all things, he was asked the other day about the mental condition of Jets fans. “Well, I think that you have to understand the Jet fan in America and what they’ve gone through the last 13 years and really the last 55 years and not won in the Super Bowl,” Rodgers said. “So I think sports fans in general can get behind an underdog or a team that hasn’t had the success they’ve wanted to in a while. So I welcome any and all bandwagon fans to jump on the underground train of the New York Jets and try and bring some positivity to our fans who have dealt with a lot.”
The bandwagon doesn’t exist, as usual. A week earlier, after a 10-9 home loss to Denver, Rodgers said, “The weather sucked, but did some of my throws.” What will he say next? If anything? This is the latest chapter from a man who might look to media for his next landscape, considering he went that route to become nationally polarized during his COVID-19 lies and his ayahuasca psychoactive usage. He spent his London time rejecting a concept that he doesn’t like Saleh, a fair question considering Rodgers recently pushed him away on the sideline as the coach tried to hug him. Didn’t he blow off a mandatory June minicamp so he could vacation in Egypt? Didn’t Wilson wonder publicly why he wasn’t sticking around?
“I think there’s some driving force to try and put a wedge (from) outside the facility between Robert and I,” Rodgers said. “But, you know, we’re really good friends. We enjoy each other and we spend time (together). Almost every day, I’m in his office talking about things and talking about the energy of the team, the focus of the team, what we need to get done, how I can help him out, how he can help me out. So we’ve got a great relationship.”
Said Saleh, with no choice in the matter: “Aaron and I are fantastic. Love the guy.”
Sometime soon, owner Woody Johnson will tire of the Rodgers debacle and try to find a future quarterback. What’s happening now is the worst of “J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!” prattle. Aaron Rodgers crumpled after four plays last season and has completely lost New York to the Mets and Aaron Judge.
Can we watch anymore? Celebrate his career.
His twilight will be forgotten soon.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.