SANTA CLARA, Calif. — One year, one janky four-play cameo and one torn Achilles’ tendon later, Aaron Rodgers finally made it through a Monday night game in a New York Jets uniform.
Column by Jerry Brewer
His Broadway production has been in the development stage forever. So much has happened, with so little to show for it. Seventeen months ago, New York traded for the superstar. At last, for the first time in a real game, you saw flashes of Rodgers looking comfortable wearing his new shade of green.
At one point, he threw a 26-yard dime down the sideline to wide receiver Allen Lazard. Later that drive, he delivered his specialty: a long touchdown pass to Lazard on a free play after the San Francisco 49ers had jumped offside.
He was wearing No. 8, but he looked like No. 12 again. It was beautiful. Then again, it was too late. His first touchdown as a Jet stood as little more than a glorified garbage-time act, a smelly feat. San Francisco was ahead by three scores when Rodgers punctuated his comeback from the Achilles’ injury on the fourth snap of his “Monday Night Football” New York debut last September. His latest prime-time humbling ended with the 49ers celebrating a 32-19 victory and Rodgers sitting out a meaningless final offensive series.
The Jets went home realizing that, while they look like a formidable team when glancing at the roster, their path to contention isn’t as clear-cut as keeping Rodgers healthy. Everything else isn’t in place. They still carry the stench of a 13-year playoff drought. They’ve failed to post a winning record in eight straight seasons. For as bright and collected as Robert Saleh appears to be, he’s a fourth-year coach with an 18-34 record in a market that doesn’t do patience. The Jets need time to mesh, to learn to win together. But last year’s misfortune means they are overdue to provide proof of concept. The return of Rodgers serves as a relief, a fresh start — and an ultimatum.
Win or … well, you don’t want to get to that last part.
“We’ll be better,” Saleh promised. “One hundred percent. I’m not worried. We’ll get it fixed.”
Saleh repeated the phrase “We’ll get it fixed” several times, throwing in a curse word once to make sure you really understood him. It wasn’t the most convincing attempt at reassurance.
The concern wasn’t Rodgers. Perhaps it would have been better if the Jets had lost solely because he played poorly. It’s easier to correct a future Hall of Famer, even a 40-year-old coming off major surgery, than to reprogram a team’s losing mindset. But Rodgers was okay. “Fine,” as Saleh said. Not good, but serviceable. The problem was, we didn’t see enough of him because the Jets’ defense — the group that Saleh has molded into a top-five unit each of the past two seasons — was anything but fine.
New York allowed 180 rushing yards to a San Francisco team missing all-pro running back Christian McCaffrey. In his first career start, backup Jordan Mason ran for 147 yards and a touchdown. Coming into the night, he had 464 career yards in his first two seasons. His breakout performance exemplified the resourcefulness of the 49ers, legitimate Super Bowl contenders yet again. McCaffrey, the most versatile running/receiving threat in the NFL, has calf and Achilles’ issues, but with an enviable combination of scheme, offensive line and star power, San Francisco can compensate for most injuries. The 49ers remain the most complete team in the NFC, and on this night, the dreaded Super Bowl loss hangover didn’t faze them at all. The 49ers pivoted and the Jets staggered, emphasizing the gulf between a team with championship aspirations and one hoping that its aging quarterback still has enough life to be its savior.
It’s hardly devastating for the Jets to come west and lose to an exceptional team to start a long season. However, it was alarming to see them lack the physicality and competitive spirit during such a tone-setting test.
“I feel like we have all the talent and pieces that we need in place,” Jets running back Breece Hall said. “Obviously, you need that type of game sometimes to see what you need to do and the standard you need to be at. We’re going to learn from it and just get better. I’m not too worried about it.”
Asked why he wasn’t worried, Hall said: “Because we know that this isn’t our standard. We know that this is not how we should be playing.”
Right now, their standard is just a theory. Hall, who ran for 54 yards and a touchdown but lost a fumble, said he apologized to Rodgers afterward for his subpar play. There go the Jets, sorry once more.
Who are they with Rodgers? Because the 49ers ran over their defense, the Jets were merely a victim in Week 1. San Francisco had the ball for nearly 39 of the 60 minutes. It ran 70 offensive plays to New York’s 49. It gained 401 yards to New York’s 266.
Rodgers was plenty rusty. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 167 yards and threw one touchdown pass, in addition to an interception. Two drives produced 130 of his passing yards, and his team scored both times. But only the first drive, in which the Jets took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter, came when the game was in doubt. During that series, he connected with Garrett Wilson three times on third down, showing the promise of the highly anticipated quarterback-wide receiver duo. Beyond that, they didn’t impact the game much together. They were barely on the field.
“I can play better,” Rodgers admitted. “I missed a couple of throws. We had some opportunities I’d like back.”
The upcoming schedule suggests the Jets have an opportunity to build some trust. Their next three games are against teams considered in rebuilding mode: the Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos. Two of those games are at home. While none will be easy wins, they are good matchups for a Jets defense that needs to redeem itself.
Rodgers, on the other hand, is too accomplished to need redemption after one disappointing opener. He has mounted too many comebacks in his career. Still, this is a different challenge. The Jets are a playoff-caliber team without the swagger and acumen of a winner. Rodgers is usually the calmest person in the stadium, but to get the best out of an excitable team, he must be the most dogged now, too.
It once seemed as though his arrival would change everything quickly. Now a year has passed, and he’s still just getting started with the Jets. Rodgers needs to defy time, but not like this. The promise of a new Jets era already yields to urgency.
