EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — An admittedly “banged up” Aaron Rodgers walked gingerly to the interview podium, feeling the effects of 14 quarterback hits. The 40-year-old New York Jets star said he was heading home to soak in a hot tub, where he no doubt would rehash in his mind one of the most frustrating games of his career.
“The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws,” Rodgers said Sunday after the Jets’ 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos at a soggy MetLife Stadium.
This marked only the fifth time in Rodgers’ 20-year career that his offense failed to score a touchdown, according to ESPN Research — and he didn’t finish two of those games because of injury. He completed this one, although he was clearly hobbled after a fourth-quarter sack.
Trainers checked out his left leg on the sideline, the same leg that endured a torn Achilles in the 2023 opener. He declined to specify what was ailing him, saying, “I’ve got stuff on both legs.”
He said he’d be “OK” for their next game, Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings in London.
The Jets (2-2) have a lot to clean up between now and then, especially on offense, which allowed five sacks and committed nine of the team’s 13 penalties — including five false starts.
The low point came in the first half, when they had to settle for a field goal after having a first-and-goal from the 1. They tried to go for it on fourth down, but a false start by left guard John Simpson forced coach Robert Saleh to send in kicker Greg Zuerlein, who later missed the potential game-winner from 50 yards in the final minute.
“It’s unacceptable for us to lose this game today,” wide receiver Allen Lazard said. “I mean, any time our defense is able to hold any team to 10 points, we have to be able to put up well more than that.”
The Jets, looking for their best four-game start since 2015, talked about the importance of handling success. They were favored by eight points over the Broncos (2-2); the Jets hadn’t been favored by that much since 2011. Suffice to say, they didn’t respond well in the rainy conditions, which affected both passing attacks.
Rodgers (24-for-42, 225 yards) was under duress and appeared frustrated at times, as the Jets had no answers for the Denver blitz. Four of their five sacks came when they sent five or more rushers, according to Next Gen Stats.
“We had some chances, but [we made] way too many mental mistakes, too many poor throws,” Rodgers said. “We just missed some easy stuff — some protection stuff that should’ve been easy and some route-adjustment stuff that should’ve been easy. I don’t know, our focus just wasn’t as sharp as the first few weeks.”
Rodgers almost always wins when the opponent is held to 10 points. Before Sunday, he had won 22 straight starts when the opponent scored 10 points or fewer, which was the longest active streak in the NFL. For his career, he’s 33-2 in that situation, including playoffs.
Saleh lamented the pre-snap penalties, a past bugaboo for the Jets, who led the league in false starts last season. He wondered aloud if Rodgers’ sophisticated cadence, known for drawing defenses offsides and resulting in free plays, is right for the Jets.
“We have to figure it out, whether or not we’re good enough to handle all the cadence,” Saleh said. “Cadence hadn’t been an issue. All camp I felt like our operation had been operating pretty good.”
In fact, the Jets had only one false start in the first three games.
Clearly, Rodgers doesn’t believe his cadence — one of his hallmarks — is the problem.
“That’s one way to do it,” he said, commenting on whether it would help to simplify his cadence. “The other way is hold them accountable. We haven’t had an issue.
“It’s been a weapon. We use it every day in practice. We rarely have a false start, then today we have five — four or five. It seems like an outlier. I don’t know if we have to make massive changes based on an outlier game.”
The Jets have other issues, such as getting running back Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson on track. They’re off to slow starts, and Sunday they combined for only 59 yards on 17 touches. For Hall, it was the worst statistical game of his career — 10 carries for only four yards. He also committed two false starts.
“I wish I could tell you, bro,” Hall said, trying to explain his start — only 174 rushing yards and a 3.1-yard average. “Everybody, my teammates, know how much I put into it, and I know how much they put into it as well.”
Wilson (five catches for 41 yards) has yet to crack the 60-yard mark in any game, and it’s obvious that he and Rodgers still are working through some chemistry issues. There was a blatant miscommunication on a fourth-quarter pass that could’ve spark their rally.
“Just not on the same page” on that play, Rodgers said.
