Aaron Rodgers Confirms NY Jets Plans After Calling Out Locker Room in Colts Loss
The loss against Indy was the closest one Aaron Rodgers and his troops have witnessed so far. But it’s simply too late to show any sort of improvement. With this 28-27 home loss, the Jets are headed into a bye week. And the four-time MVP has a lot on his mind. The Jets quarterback was tight-lipped after last week’s loss to the Cardinals. And needless to say, that was the case after this loss, too.
After their win against the Texans in Week 9, the Jets hoped to carry that momentum into their game against the Cardinals. But per Rodgers, they just didn’t have the “energy” they were hoping for in that 31-6 loss. “I thought after a big win Thursday night, we were going to come out with a lot of energy and win the game. We just didn’t… Offensively, you’re not going to beat anybody scoring six points.”
At the time, the signal-called also said, “We’ve just got to focus on what’s in front of us and beat the Colts and then get to the bye and sort some things out.” Beating the Colts. That was their target for Week 11. And with less than 3 minutes left on the clock, it looked like the Jets would get a second win in three games. But it wasn’t meant to be, something Rodgers suggested was because they ‘weren’t a great team.’ But we’ll come to that later.
Now, it’s clear as day that no amount of exchange of personnel or firing them can stop Aaron Rodgers and the Jets from facing the music. Losing to a quarterback who was benched a couple of weeks ago because he was “tired” has got to be one of the lowest points of this season for the New York-based franchise. But despite all that, Rodgers thinks that clearing their heads will solve the problems.
“I’m in my 20th year, so I’ve figured out a way to do this for a long time. So I just gotta remember why I fell in love with this game. This will be definitely a week to clear all of our heads and come back and stick together,” Rodgers said after the game. Not trying to hate on Rodgers, but this ‘feel-good, we-can-do-it-guys’ is not doing the team any favors. Did you know the Jets hadn’t scored a touchdown since the fourth quarter against the Texans (Week 9), right until there were just 40 seconds left in the 2nd quarter against the Colts?
After they went 2-3 down and fired Robert Saleh, the front office expected things to get better. Or, at least, stabilize. But that doesn’t seem to have happened. With Saleh, at least they won two games. But since defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich became the interim head coach, too, the Jets have a 1-5 record. And in a season where the Jets faithful hoped their team would make the playoffs, Ulbrich wrote that off right after the Week 10 loss.
“In all honestly, the playoffs should be the last thing on our mind right now,” he’d said. “We’ve just got to play better football.” But they didn’t do that. Now, the New York-based franchise has lost two games in a row. And yes, after hearing Aaron Rodgers’ comments after this loss against Indy, we couldn’t help but go back to the upset against the Cardinals. After losing 31-6 against Arizona, Rodgers admitted that he was expecting the team to come out with more energy, but that wasn’t the case.
But the Jets conundrum is like a cause-and-effect loop. Rodgers thinks the lack of energy translated to a bad performance. However, Garrett Wilson said, “I don’t think we went into [Week 10] with the wrong mentality, nor did we go about our meetings and our practices this week in the wrong way. It’s just that at the end of the day, it’s about Sundays. I say that all the time… The energy’s not there. Because we’re playing like trash.” Mind you, these were his comments in the loss against the Cardinals. So, you see, things haven’t changed that much. It’s the same old Jets.
Rodgers threw for 184 yards, completed 22 of his 29 passes, and scored two touchdowns. Doesn’t sound that bad, right? But they made a costly mistake and Rodgers is now regretting that decision.
Aaron Rodgers laments the loss: “If we were a great team…”
They scored 13 more points later and were sitting on a 24-22 lead. But with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter, the Jets were stalled. To get out of the slump, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich decided to kick a field goal and not go for it. The head coach was “confident” that the defense could put a stop to Indy’s offense, but he was clearly wrong. “In hindsight, I probably should have gone for it because we didn’t stop them, obviously.”
As for Rodgers, he said in the post-game conference, “Brick felt good about Anders kicking it and, you know, defense stopping it. So, yeah, of course, I felt like we needed to get to 30 just to begin the game. Now, obviously, the way we played. Still, we needed to get to 30 to win, but yeah, you know, if we were a great team, we would have scored seven there.”
The interim coach lamented his decision that led to the 4-yard run from Anthony Richardson. It’s baffling to know that Davante Adams still hasn’t showcased the best of his performance. And even crazier to know that they thought hiring and firing people was a way out of the slump. Nevertheless, they are heading into a bye week and will face the Seahawks when they return. Will the Jets come out with new energy? Hard to say.
