Jets offense with Aaron Rodgers haven’t been what anyone expected after four games

NEW YORK — From the moment they acquired him in a trade with the Green Bay Packers in April of 2023, the Jets were hoping Aaron Rodgers would bring them out of the decade-plus abyss into championship glory.

An Achilles tear in the 2023 season opener put a hold on Rodgers potentially making the Jets contenders.

But after Sunday’s 10-9 loss to the Broncos, Rodgers, Jets coach Robert Saleh, and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett still have some work to do in that regard.

Rodgers didn’t look like the four-time NFL MVP he was with the Packers. Instead, he was a visibly frustrated quarterback who was beaten down and needed to lay in a hot tub after being sacked five times.

The Broncos consistently had Rodgers under duress the entire afternoon. Following a P.J. Locke sack late in the fourth quarter, Rodgers limped to the sideline and looked very much like a 40-year-old quarterback.

Rodgers got the Jets into field goal range on their final drive of the game. However, with 51 seconds remaining, Greg Zuerlein missed a 50-yard field goal that would have won the game.

“That’s a really good defense,” Rodgers said after Sunday’s game. “But when your defense holds them to 10, you’ve got to win that game 100% of the time.

“That’s on the offense. That’s on me. Not good enough.”

It also doesn’t help Rodgers and the Jets offense that Hackett’s playcalling the first four weeks has been noticeably conservative. Denver has one of the best defenses in the NFL and an elite cornerback in Patrick Surtain II, who could be the best at his position. But the Jets missed some opportunities offensively.

In the first quarter, the Jets has a fourth-and-goal situation at the one-yard line. But a false start by left guard John Simpson forced the Jets to kick a 23-yard Zuerlein field goal instead of going for it.

Gang Green had five false start penalties against the Broncos. After the loss, Saleh said he wasn’t sure if the Jets offensive line is ready to handle all of Rodgers’ cadences at the line of scrimmage. Rodgers disagreed with that when asked if his cadence should be slightly scaled back.

“That’s one way to do it,” Rodgers said. “The other way is to hold them accountable. We haven’t had an issue, we’ve had one false start.

“Morgan [Moses] had one false start, I believe, until this. It’s been a weapon. We use it every day in practice. We rarely have a false start, and to have five today, it seemed like, four or five, it seems like an outlier. I don’t know if we need to make mass changes based on kind of an outlier game.”

In addition to the 14 penalties the Jets had on Sunday, the Broncos were loading the line of scrimmage, trying to stop Breece Hall, Braelon Allen, and the Jets’ rushing attack. Because of that, the Jets only recorded 63 yards rushing.

The Jets’ offense has certainly been a roller coaster during the first four games. They rank 23rd in yards (294.8) and 20th in points (19.0) per game.

Rodgers was brought in to help a the Jets offense, which was inept after Zach Wilson mostly started the previous three seasons. The jury is still out, but the results look similar.

Rodgers has gone 26 consecutive games without registering a 300-yard game, the longest drought of his 20-year career. However, there have been flashes of the offense improving, like the 24-3 win against the Patriots.

Rodgers was okay against the Broncos, completing 24-of-42 passes for 225 yards. But he missed several throws and was not the same player he was during the win against the Patriots, where he completed 27-of-35 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns.

The Jets were also 4-of-17 on third-down conversions against the Broncos. They also made two trips into the red zone without scoring a single touchdown.

Through four games, Rodgers has thrown for 849 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. These are not bad numbers, but Rodgers and the Jets have suffered from miscommunication between his receivers, including Garrett Wilson, and have not capitalized on their opportunities.

In the pouring rain, the Jets could not score a single touchdown against a Broncos team they were expected to beat by eight points.

Against Denver, Gang Green averaged 3.5 yards per play, and Denver sacked Rodgers five times. As Saleh has stated throughout training camp, Rodgers still has a live arm, but his mobility is not the same following his Achilles injury, which is evident.

“I thought he did a good job getting in and out of the pocket, and buying some time, and throwing off schedule,” Saleh said about Rodgers’ performance on Sunday. “It’s just like I said, there wasn’t a lot of space out there, especially in the first half.

“The ball was very heavy with the rain, and you could see it on their side too, they were also having troubles, but the issue wasn’t the quarterback. It was a lot of the, like I said, pre-snap penalties and lack of execution up front.”

Can the Jets be contenders with this version of Rodgers? Possibly, if their defense is playing at a championship level. But that hasn’t always been the case this season.

Against the 49ers, the Jets gave up 401 total yards and allowed eight consecutive scoring drives. Although, they held the Broncos to just 10 points, the Jets defense allowed 126 yards on the ground and allowed Courtland Sutton to roam free on the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Jets got Rodgers because they believed he would elevate them to a championship-level team. Rodgers is still an NFL-caliber starting quarterback, but the Jets cannot expect him to put an entire team on his back like he could earlier in his career. He needs helps from the Jets’ playmakers and their defense if they are going to be contenders.

Although there isn’t buyer’s remorse on the Jets end, the results after four weeks haven’t been what anyone has expected thus far.

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