Aaron Rodgers is 40 years old, and entering his 20th NFL season. In many regards, he has seen it all on a football field — even if it’s just his second season with the New York Jets.
Despite his long career, the four-time NFL MVP is still engaged enough to try and chase a second Lombardi Trophy for both himself and the Jets franchise, even if it means not participating during preseason games.
New York Jets Hint at Holding Out Aaron Rodgers for Preseason
New York head coach Robert Saleh did not deliberately say that the organization would be keeping Rodgers out of the preseason games as a whole.
He just said the former Super Bowl MVP won’t be playing in the first two games.
That doesn’t come as a shock nor is it anything different from what the Jets did last season with Rodgers. The signal-caller started for a series with the Jets in their final preseason game of the year while sitting out the first three games (New York participated in the Hall of Fame Game last year).
“We haven’t really talked about it. My instinct right now as I stand here is, ‘We’ll see,'” Saleh said Tuesday after practice. “My instinct is, ‘No,’ but I want to leave it open. That third game is a one-word sentence. He definitely won’t play the first two. But the discussion on the third one, we just haven’t quite had yet.”
Robert Saleh says that Aaron Rodgers will not play in the first two preseason games, but Rodgers and the Jets have not discussed if he would play at all in the third preseason game against the Giants: pic.twitter.com/FG33FsQvGn
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) July 30, 2024
Other players on the Jets still need to make a firm decision on how they want to handle their preseason workload, but in the case of Rodgers, less is usually more.
Why It’s The Right Call To Sit Rodgers in Preseason
Contrary to what loyal NFL fans look for, the preseason simply doesn’t matter and could do more harm than good for organizations looking to compete for a Super Bowl.
The Jets are one of those teams in 2024.
While Saleh did say that the organization is still determining if Rodgers will play in the final preseason game against the New York Giants, the odds are that the Jets will look to sit their franchise quarterback for the entire preseason.
With the continued interest in joint practice work as well, teams like New York are even pushed further to the belief that preseason games are more for players who are fighting to make the final roster than those in safe positions. In 2024, New York is holding joint practices with each of its preseason opponents a day or two before games.
There is, of course, the other reality that Rodgers could simply ignore what the Jets want and push to play in the final game anyway. This is what happened last season when he went 2-of-4 passing for 35 yards and a touchdown toss in New York’s final preseason game.
Just a couple of weeks later, Rodgers was out for the year with an Achilles injury.
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While showing he can take a hit and get up without issue is a big part of the mental side of Rodgers’ recovery, the Jets do not want to test anything out in meaningless games in case something bad happens.
That’s why the small likelihood that Rodgers will appear in that final game is still not guaranteed.