NFL schedule-maker: 'Jets kind of owe us' after last year's Aaron Rodgers debacle

For the second straight year, the New York Jets are the NFL’s prime-time darlings.

The franchise went 12 years without a “Sunday Night Football” game prior to last season, but the team is set for six prime-time contests in 2024 as Aaron Rodgers attempts to make his return from a torn Achilles.

And this year, the occasions are even more front-loaded, with those six contests coming in the first 11 weeks of the season. Four of them are at home.

ESPN announced Tuesday that the Jets would open the season on “Monday Night Football” on the road against the San Francisco 49ers.

With two “Thursday Night Football” games, the Jets will have two short weeks of rest. The NFL approved a rule last year that increased the number of short-rest game weeks from one to two.

The Jets are playing in an additional standalone window game on Oct. 6 (Week 4) against the Minnesota Vikings in London.

Teams can be scheduled for a maximum of six prime-time games in a season. The flex scheduling options held by the league and broadcast partners make a seventh such contest possible later in the season.

Rodgers suffered his season-ending injury four plays into his Jets debut on "Monday Night Football" against the Buffalo Bills. The Jets trotted out Zach Wilson and Trevor Siemian at quarterback in standalone windows.

"That's an awful lot of prime-time games early in the season, but, obviously, I feel like the Jets kind of owe us one," league vice president of broadcast planning Mike North said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. "When we had this conversation a year ago, we were – all of us – all-in on the Jets, and for (Rodgers) to last four plays was disheartening for many of us."

What is New York Jets’ prime-time schedule in 2024 season?

The games the Jets will play under the lights are:

• Week 1: Jets at Niners (MNF)

• Week 3: New England Patriots at Jets (TNF)

• Week 6: Buffalo Bills at Jets (MNF)

• Week 7: Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers (SNF)

• Week 9: Houston Texans at Jets (TNF)

• Week 11: Indianapolis Colts at Jets (SNF)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL schedule-maker: 'Jets kind of owe us' after Aaron Rodgers debacle