Last year, Jets training camp became a combination of Hard Knocks and hero worship, with cameras and microphones capturing the fact that players were in awe of the massive upgrade at quarterback. This year, the upgraded quarterback is trying to upgrade the rest of the team.
As explained by Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Aaron Rodgers is pushing his teammates toward a higher standard.
“I’ve heard stories of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady -- not to compare them -- but it’s the same thing,” coach Robert Saleh said. “The expectation and the standard is high. As a quarterback, he’s trying to operate at a certain level of efficiency, which means people around him need to be efficient at the same level. When he’s not feeling that as a group’s leader and voice, he voices his opinion.”
That’s good. It’s necessary, especially for a team that hasn’t had a franchise-caliber quarterback under center since a one-year experiment with Brett Favre from 16 years ago. The best quarterbacks not only play at a high level but also hold their teammates fiercely accountable to do the same.
It’s one thing to hear it from the coaches. It’s another to hear it from someone who’s out there, putting in the work.
That’s why it’s no big deal if cameras capture images of Rodgers and others (like receiver Garrett Wilson) having animated conversations. Rodgers is trying to make everyone around him want to get the absolute most out of what they have.
Center Joe Tippman (who sailed a snap over Rodgers’s head during a Saturday scrimmage) has been a target for Rodgers.
“He can take me jumping his ass a little bit and getting on him,” Rodgers said of Tippman, via Cimini. “Sometimes you need to do that.”
He’s absolutely right. (I’m able to compartmentalize my opinions about Rodgers and his opinions.) Rodgers himself has said that, if things don’t go well this year for the Jets, everyone is getting fired — him included.
He also knows that he has one or two more shots to cement his legacy as something other than an all-time great talent who underachieved in the championship category. In the AFC, it’s not going to be easy to make the playoffs much less climb to the top of the playoff tree, in 2024.
So, yes, Rodgers needs to act like two quarterbacks who not all that long ago ruled the conference. Manning and Brady. Great players who were assholes when the circumstances called for it. Every great quarterback needs to be able, willing, and ready to unleash that edge when it’s needed. If the Jets are going to have any chance to compete with teams like the Chiefs, the Bengals, the Ravens, the Bills, the Texans, the Jaguars, the Browns, the Dolphins, and the Steelers, Rodgers needs to be ready to flip that switch at any given moment.