Uplifting presence: Early in last week’s game, Aaron Rodgers went over to defensive end Bryce Huff on the sideline and offered a pass-rushing tip: He told Huff that New York Giants quarterback Tyrod Taylor, when under duress, has a tendency to run straight up the middle when escaping the pocket.
Heeding the advice, Huff bull-rushed on his next play instead of taking an outside rush — a change-up that enabled him to play the inside lane. Sure enough, he sacked Taylor as he scrambled up the middle. Huff gave a shoutout to Rodgers.
“He’s on the sideline, supporting us and being engaged,” he said. “It’s really cool because he’s always around, just providing the vibe and being a cool leader.”
With his words and presence, Rodgers is inspiring teammates. He rehabs his surgically repaired left Achilles in California, flies in for the games and heads back. It’s an unusual dynamic, rallying around an injured teammate. In the NFL world, injured players are often isolated from the rest of the team, virtually anonymous. Out of sight, out of mind. Not Rodgers, who wore a sideline headset in the past two games.
“Anytime he’s in the building, it is great, man,” defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson said. “His energy, his aura, it’s dope. We feel him. Even when he was on the sideline on Sunday, man, you feel the juice and love it.
“We see him in spurts. So we see him last Saturday [in the locker room] and he’s walking like nothing happened. It’s just a testament to the work he’s put in. That’s inspiring even in itself. His drive to get back out here with us, man, he a true competitor and true leader.”
Tackle Mekhi Becton said, “You can see the smile on everybody’s face when you see him come in the building, so it’s like an uplifting spirit whenever he walks in here.”
Several players said it’s motivating to see Rodgers throwing a football and doing abbreviated dropbacks in pregame warmups. It tells them that maybe, just maybe, he can return if they stay in the playoff race. Rodgers, injured in Week 1, has said his goal is to play again this season.
“He might be an alien,” Becton said. “That’s kind of crazy at his age, and the injury he had, to be recovered that fast. He’s a different kind of guy, for sure.”
Huff said, “Despite all the doctors and analysts saying that it’s not possible, he just continues to prove that he’s outworking the standards that everybody placed on him. So he’s definitely a beacon of motivation.”
General manager Joe Douglas said the team has no timeline for Rodgers. Make no mistake, this will be a big story next month.
2. Historic problems: The Jets’ third-down offense is the worst in the league (23% conversation rate). You might have known that already. But did you know it’s the worst in the past 45 years?
The Elias Sports Bureau can trace third-down rates as far back as 1978, and the Jets find themselves at the absolute bottom, slightly below the 2005 San Francisco 49ers (24%).
Asked to explain their historic woes, the Jets usually lean toward the clichéd response: Improve on first and second down to avoid too many third-and-long situations. While there’s a lot of truth to that, it’s not exactly the whole story. Frankly, they aren’t good in any third-down situations.
On third-and-short (3 yards or less), they’re an abysmal 3-for-16 (19%), which ranks 32nd. In fact, the next-closest team isn’t even in the same area code — the Cleveland Browns at 46%.
On third-and-medium (4 to 6 yards), the Jets are 9-for-25 (36%), a ranking of 25th.
On third-and-long (7 or more yards), they’re 8-for-46 (17%), 28th.
Get the picture? The problem stretches across the board — short, medium and long.
3. Something has to change: No matter how well the defense plays, the winning ways aren’t sustainable unless the offense plays better situational football, which means more efficiency on third down and in the red zone (32nd). Every week, the refrain from the Jets is the same: “We’re close” to a breakthrough. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett is tired of hearing it.
“Close is never good,” he said.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson said “we’re going to try some new things” on Monday night against the Los Angeles Chargers at MetLife Stadium (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC). Wilson is in favor of that, noting that what they’re doing isn’t working. He also said he can help the cause by getting open more consistently on third down.
