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Since being acquired by the New York Jets back in late April, Aaron Rodgers has undoubtedly been saying and doing all the right things.
That trend of leadership continued this week, as the 39-year-old four-time MVP bravely took on the extremely difficult “say something nice about Zach Wilson” challenge and passed with flying colors.
Speaking to the media ahead of the Jets’ appearance in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, Rodgers said that the third-year signal-caller has “practiced well” and that his time serving as his backup will be “good for his career.” Talk about scraping the bottom of the compliment barrel.
“I hope this time for him is like a deep inhale and exhale and he can really take a breath and pause and deal with the disappointment of last year and the frustration, and then channel it. I feel like he has, just re-channel it as a positive and focus on the opportunity in front of him to learn with a guy who loves him and cares about him and wants him to be great and wants him to do incredible things every day and be better,” Rodgers said.
The former Green Bay Packer then said this time as a reserve will ultimately help Wilson in the long run.
“He has played really, really well in camp. He’s made a number of great throws. He looks confident. His fundamentals are improving. He’s throwing the ball on time. He’s got all the intangibles. . . . I think he’ll look back years from now and be really thankful for this time to grow, to reset, to take a breath, and it’s gonna set him up for a nice long career in the league.”
Since being drafted with the #2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of BYU, Wilson has been a remarkable disappointment, as the 24-year-old has compiled an 8-14 record while completing just 55% of his passes for 4,022 yards, 15 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.
Thanks to their acquisition of Rodgers to replace Wilson, the Jets have almost instantaneously become one of the betting favorites to win this season’s Super Bowl, as their odds currently only trail the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Dallas Cowboys.