NOT AARON’S CALL
QB never wanted to take someone’s roster spot
Following social media backlash after the Jets placed Aaron Rodgers on the active roster last week, the quarterback finally decided to set the record straight.
During his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, Rodgers said he asked the Jets to revert him to injured reserve after both sides decided he wouldn’t play again this season.
The Jets ultimately chose to place Rodgers on the 53-man roster anyway so he could continue with his rehab and practice with the team. Because of that, fullback Nick Bawden was released before later being added to the team’s practice squad.
“I figured there would be some conversation about it,” Rodgers said. “The story is simple. We lost the previous week, and I was again targeting the 24th comeback. So I assumed I was gonna go on IR.
“I asked to be put on IR because, you know, there was a conversation — ‘Do you want to practice?’ And I said not at the expense of somebody getting cut. I know how this works and I didn’t feel like I needed to practice to continue my rehab. I could do on-the-field stuff on the side. But obviously, I get overruled there. You know, it is what it is.”
Rodgers was cleared for some, but not all, football activities and the Jets opened his 21-day practice window on Nov. 29. He always targeted Dec. 24 against the Commanders as a possible return date. But the four-time MVP also said it wouldn’t “make a ton of sense” to return at less than 100% if the Jets didn’t have a shot at making the playoffs.
Miami defeated the Jets, 30-0, on Dec. 17, eliminating them from postseason contention. The Jets had only three days after that to either elevate Rodgers to the 53-man roster or have him revert to injured reserve. The latter would’ve forced him to miss the rest of the season.
If Rodgers was placed on injured reserve, he could not practice with the team.
Many fans and even various media outlets criticized the Jets after he was placed on the 53-man roster.
“Joe (Douglas) and I will always do what we feel is best for the organization, and having him around is a plus,” Robert Saleh said. “Having him on the practice field, he loves the practice field.
“So having him out there, his juice, his energy. Shoot, even Friday leading up into the Washington game, running all the scout team reps and all the smack talk with the defense and the defense got into it and it was just a net positive for us.”
After moving Rodgers to the active roster, the Jets waived Bawden. Once he went unclaimed by another team, the Jets placed Bawden on the practice squad because they could then elevate him for a maximum of three games.
Bawden was elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s 30-28 victory over the Commanders. However, he was inactive for the game.
“That was an interesting situation,” Rodgers said. “I called Nick right away and just said ‘hey, I just hope you know this isn’t coming from me. I asked them to put me on IR.’ But he actually said, ‘Hey, look, I can get my money. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.’ He would have gotten elevated this last week if he’d been healthy, but he’ll be back up this week, I’m sure.”
PCT 3FGM-3FGA FTM-FTA .480 85-185 131-163 .464 43-147 140-181 .426 41-118 96-113 .448 57-150 77-89 .450 68-154 21-29 .461 28-83 18-23 .605 1-3 38-57 .381 44-122 2-6 .592 0-0 14-38 .167 0-4 0-0 .500 7-17 1-2 .667 0-0 3-5 .417 1-5 0-2 .375 0-4 0-0 .500 1-2 0-0 .000 0-3 0-0 .000 0-2 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 .000 0-0 0-0 .464 376-999 541-708 .475 392-1051 453-581 AST
AVG.
5.9
4.9
2.4
2.5
1.9
2.8
1.4
1.1
.7
1.0
.4
.2
.2
.7
.3
.3
.0
.0
.0
23.7
26.0
AST 171 143 57 71 54 82 42 30 15 1 8 3 2 4 1 3 0 0 0 687 755
PF 58 78 36 40 52 55 82 43 40 2 10 14 2 9 1 1 0 0 0 523 608
DQ 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
PCT .804 .773 .850 .865 .724 .783 .667 .333 .368 .000 .500 .600 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .764 .780
STL 32 18 11 16 29 28 24 18 32 1 6 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 218 194
PTS 756 663 441 416 279 222 183 168 130 2 34 23 11 6 3 0 0 0 0 3337 3259
TO 65 93 40 29 28 31 26 12 21 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 351 380
AVG 26.1 22.9 18.4 14.9 9.6 7.7 6.3 6.2 6.2 2.0 1.9 1.6 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 115.1 112.4
BLK 3 6 9 3 8 7 27 1 27 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 98 146