Jets’ Rodgers hopes to play beyond next season but he acknowledges that everyone is ‘on the hot seat’
Florham Park, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers is focused on coming back strong next season for the New York Jets.
And, he hopes, beyond.
The 40-year-old quarterback acknowledged Monday he first thought he could be one and done after he was traded to New York last April. But thoughts of staying for multiple seasons were sparked as he began having fun "and kind of falling back in love with the game."
Then came the torn left Achilles tendon that sabotaged his season — and the Jets' hopes — just four snaps into his debut.
"And then it gets taken away," Rodgers said. "So this is not a one year (thing) in my mind. I mean, obviously, it's a what have you done for me lately? And I'm going to have to go out and prove I can still play at a high level.
"But I'd like this to be more than just next year."
So do the Jets, who finished 7-10 and missed the playoffs for the 13th consecutive year — the longest active drought among the major North American professional sports leagues.
"It kind of hit me last night after the game, just feeling like a lost year," Rodgers said. "And that I missed out on obviously a lot of opportunities, just thinking if I'd had been out there, things would have been a little different."
Owner Woody Johnson is treating this season as a mulligan of sorts, opting to not part ways with either coach Robert Saleh or general manager Joe Douglas.
"For the last two years, having our team be defined by not being able to overcome the adversity, that's a tough thing," Douglas said. "That's directly on me."
Rodgers was viewed by many in the organization going into the season as a missing piece for the Jets to return to respectability — and the playoffs.
Rodgers, Saleh and Douglas will all get the chance to reward Johnson's patience next season.
"Obviously we're all going to be on the quote-unquote hot seat next year," Rodgers said. "It's going to be an important year for all of us and I love that. I mean, I think that's fantastic. We should approach that every single year. ... If you have a down year, a bad year, there's going to be people calling to move on, and especially when you're 40 years old.
"So, I'm going to go out there and play as well as I can. And obviously if I have the season I know that I'm capable of having and we have the success I know we're capable of having, then all that stuff takes care of itself."
The four-time NFL MVP made a remarkably fast recovery from his torn Achilles tendon and returned to practice with the team on Nov. 29, and Saleh watched Rodgers "carve us up on the scout team." But with the Jets knocked out of playoff contention and Rodgers not fully healthy, the focus eventually turned to next season for the quarterback's return.
"He still has all kinds of juice, energy, arm talent, so I think he's going to come out with more fire," Saleh said. "He's on a mission and he's not going to stop until his mission's complete."
Culture club
Rodgers had one piece of advice for the team when evaluating itself during the offseason: eliminate outside distractions.
"If you want to be a winning organization and put yourself in a position to win championships and be competitive, everything that you do matters," Rodgers said. "The (stuff) that has nothing to do with winning needs to get out of the building. That will be the focus moving forward."