Jets fans have been waiting for months to see Aaron Rodgers on the field in his new uniform.
That moment comes Saturday night, a few weeks earlier than expected.
Jets coach Robert Saleh decided to start Rodgers in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Giants in a somewhat surprising move.
Rodgers has not played in a preseason game since 2018, and there is always the fear of the possibility of an injury when star players take the field in the preseason.
“You can’t coach scared, you can’t play scared,” Saleh said this week. “You can slip out of your car and have something happen to you, but knock on wood, everyone will be fine. You know you see some of the great ones out there. Kansas City’s playing their guys, Buffalo’s playing their guys, it’s not uncommon.
“You could always play the hindsight game or the fearful game, but what’s in the best interest for our team is to go out there and play some football together and prepare ourselves the best way we can for September 11th.”
Jets coach Robert Saleh speaks with the media before practice at training camp in Florham Park, NJ.Bill Kostroun/New York Post
The Jets broke training camp on Thursday but now have two more weeks before opening the regular season against the Bills on “Monday Night Football.”
Saleh wanted Rodgers to get the feel of a game day at MetLife Stadium before the craziness of the opener.
“Even though he’s been in the league for 19 years, he’s going into a new stadium, he’s got new colors on, he’s got new teammates, new play caller, everything’s new,” Saleh said. “It’s not so much about him, but everybody else around him hearing him for the first time, feeling him in a game like setting, feeling his cadence, feeling his demeanor in the huddle, feeling him at the line of scrimmage, and so as much as it is for him, it’s even more so for the guys around him, so they can feel the tempo that he wants in and out of the huddle and we can make the adjustments off of it.
Things to watch in the Jets’ preseason finale.
“Rather than waiting until Week 1 and then making the adjustments after that, well, let’s see what it feels like now and make the adjustments we need so we can get better for Week 1 and then make more adjustments and so on and so forth.”
It sounds like Rodgers and the starting offense will play more than one series.
“I don’t have a specific number [of plays],” Saleh said. “I want to get transitions, but I also know how I am on game day. Whatever I plan on game day, sometimes I just throw it out the window based on what my emotion is feeling at that moment, but the plan is to get transitions going in terms of different series so they can come off the field, get the adjustments, take those adjustments to the field, play football, come back, make more adjustments, go back, so I’d like to see multiple drives, but we’ll see.”
Aaron Rodgers #8 of the New York JetsGetty Images
Though Jets fans surely will be watching their new quarterback with a mix of excitement and fear that he might get hurt, Rodgers made it clear to Saleh that he wanted to play in the preseason for the first time in five years.
“There’s always that risk-reward,” Rodgers said. “I think over the years, it just hasn’t made sense based on a number of different factors, but I used to enjoy playing the preseason back in my younger years, just to kind of maybe take that first hit or feel kind of the nerves in the first drive, so I look forward to being out there. There was not much of a conversation with Robert.
