Aaron Rodgers completed his first passes in 610 days, and his first in a New York Jets jersey, but Gang Green moved the ball only sporadically in a clear 32-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Mistakes and inconsistency plagued the Jets’ offense in Rodgers’ first extended outing. Allen Lazard dropped a potential third-down conversion on the first drive and running back Breece Hall fumbled on the Jets’ fourth offensive snap. Gang Green made three three-and-outs and had two turnovers, including a bounced interception by Rodgers.
The 40-year-old playmaker rejected the idea that the interaction of new players and the lack of match practice in the pre-season had contributed to the turbulent affair.
“That’s definitely an excuse. I’m not going to use that,” he said, according to the official transcript. “I don’t think we should. We expect great things when we step on the field. There were moments that felt really good but weren’t sustainable. We felt like if we could just get a first down, we’d be on a roll. We had those three-and-outs that really hurt us. I think a lot of it is correctable, which is great for coaches but frustrating for players. We know how close we were/are, but there’s no time for that. We’re going to move on to Tennessee quickly and then we have a game four days later. It’s a tough opener for us, travel-wise and schedule-wise, but no excuses. We’ve got to play better. I’ve got to play better. We’re going to bounce back next week.”
When everything was going well, the Jets offense looked better than it had in years. Rodgers made crisp passes to Garrett Wilson and Hall found space on defense. The offensive line kept Rodgers fairly clean, with only five of his 21 attempts coming under pressure, according to Next Gen Stats. A 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive on the Jets’ third possession that included multiple connections from Rodgers to Wilson showed how efficient the unit can be when it’s clicking. The 7:07 touchdown drive was longer than any Gang Green possession in 2023.
Rodgers pulled off a classic move in the third quarter, getting Niners’ Edward Leonard Floyd to jump offside and finding Lazard deep for a touchdown.
However, the mistakes and inconsistencies showed that the result was far from final. The QB completed 13 of 21 passes for 167 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.
“I can play better. I missed a couple of shots. I missed the one to Garrett,” Rodgers said. “On my last drive, the pick, I just missed the ball inside. I felt like I got the ball out pretty well overall. We had some chances that I’d like to get back.”
Unlike Kirk Cousins, who seemed limited in Atlanta and also suffered a torn Achilles tendon, Rodgers did not appear immobile or affected by the injury. He was also not on the field often, as the Jets’ defense was overwhelmed. New York lost the battle for possession 38:40-21:20.
“We never really gave him a chance to get into rhythm,” coach Robert Saleh said of his defense. “On defense, you have to give San Francisco credit for doing a great job running. They were very efficient in the passing game. Even in the second half when we felt like we made some adjustments in the running game and they, other than one explosive player, thought we did a good job in the running game. But they were really good in the passing game too… They did a heck of a lot better than we did, and we have to get better.”
After a difficult first game on Monday night in San Francisco, the Jets hope to get back on track in the next four weeks against Tennessee, New England, Denver and Minnesota.
