With the Jets reeling and fresh off a two-game losing streak, injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers addressed the current state of the team, and specifically the offense. While Rodgers has never been one to mince words, he was candid with his opinion of how the offense has handled the adversity and also offered some advice for his teammates.
“There’s some heated conversations on the sideline and different things. I think we need to hold our poise a little bit better—really just offensively. We need to not have some of those things happen on the sideline and to be a little better and be a little better competitors,” Rodgers said on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show.
“I think there’s been too many little side conversations and we just need to grow up a little bit on offense and lock in and do our jobs—everybody. And not point fingers, and that’s everybody,” Rodgers continued. “We don’t point fingers at the coaching staff, don’t point fingers at each other, just get back to work and get the job done. It sucks not being there, it’s tough, it’s really hard … I feel like if I was there some of those things wouldn’t be happening … it’s more of the side stuff that I don’t like, that I want to see us stick together through the tough times.”
"This is what teams have to go through and there's adversity points in every season..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 26, 2023
I think we need to hold our poise a little bit better and it's really tough not being there with those guys" ~ @AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/UYPFdmXKpz
After Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles on the team’s opening drive of the 2023 NFL season, backup quarterback Zach Wilson stepped in as the starter. While the Jets won their opener in dramatic fashion with an overtime punt return touchdown against the Bills, they’ve now lost two-straight games to the Cowboys and Patriots.
Frustration has mounted, and there’ve been numerous videos showing what appear to be tense conversations on the sideline during games. One specific moment grabbed plenty of attention, involving running back Michael Carter and his positional coach.
Frustration is spilling over at the #Jets sideline.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 24, 2023
That’s Michael Carter and his RBs coach.
pic.twitter.com/paVyw6v1g0
The play of Wilson as the starter has also come with heavy scrutiny from analysts, fans and many others, as the quarterback has completed just 44-of-84 attempts (52.4%) for 467 yards, two touchdown passes and four interceptions in just under three full games.
