In late July, Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters his “instinct” is not to play Aaron Rodgers during the preseason.
However, Saleh has left the door open for the 40-year-old to start in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Giants.
“I really don’t have a preference,” Rodgers said Tuesday about playing. “I feel good about where I’m at with my body and what I’ve kind of put together. I feel like I’ve done different things throughout camp as far as rollouts, getting out of the pocket, making plays, throwing across my body, pump faking, and extending plays.
“I feel like I’ve done a lot. I haven’t taken a hit, that’s kind of the main thing. Thankfully, I respect and thank my defense for that. We will see if we can get through tomorrow without getting drilled.”
Rodgers hasn’t had any restrictions since tearing his Achilles four plays into the Jets’ season opener last September. He participated during OTA practices in the spring but missed mandatory minicamp after taking a trip to Egypt, which cost him $50,000.
Rodgers and Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley both received a veteran’s day off ahead of the team’s joint practice against the Giants on Wednesday. Most of the first-team offense also didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice. Rodgers has practiced 14 of the 16 days of training camp since missing the joint practice against the Commanders on Aug. 8. Saleh held Rodgers out of that practice due to rainy weather.
During practice sessions, Rodgers has shown many of the same attributes that made him one of the best quarterbacks of his generation. He has demonstrated pinpoint accuracy on his passes that his receivers can only get to.
Rodgers has also shown he still has good mobility for a 20-year veteran. Rodgers has scampered across the field on broken plays in the pocket to evade defenders. The Jets, just like the other 32 teams around the league, have used joint practices as a barometer to see where their team is.
Because of his season-ending injury, many pundits have questioned whether Rodgers should play in the preseason. Last year, Rodgers played two preseason series against the Giants.
Rodgers has not taken a hit since Leonard Floyd’s sack on Sept. 11, which put him out for the season. He said that taking that first hit is always a hurdle coming into each year.
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve played in the preseason or if you are in your 10th year, 20th year, it always helps once you kind of get that first shot out of the way,” Rodgers said. “Last year, I kind of got knocked down, and Jihad [Ward] kind of pushed me after a play.
“But you know, it’s going to be the first time you get kind of rocked, and then it feels like, ‘ok, I’m good.’ You are not really going to get rocked in the preseason because even if we play a series or two, it’s not like there’s going to be plays where I’m holding on to the football for a long time or anything.
“It was probably more risk of getting rocked into practice.”
Last week, Rodgers created somewhat of a stir after saying preseason football was not “real football.”
“I stand by what I said,” Rodgers said. “Even in these joint practices, there’s a fear amongst all the staff like how much can we show, do we hold back, what are we going to run for this session?
“As you know, it’s a who do you know coaching business, so everyone talks to each other. I just know with Carolina, it wasn’t like they did a whole lot.
“So how much work do we actually get out of that? I think it is good going against somebody else, but is it actually, you know, making you better than practicing with your own team? That’s debatable.”
Rodgers and the Jets had the worst training camp practice of the summer on Monday morning. He completed 10 of 26 passes, and his interception, thrown to safety Tony Adams in the end zone, ended the day.
The Jets’ first-team offense will try to bounce back during the joint practice against the Giants, who have two dynamic pass rushers, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, who can force Rodgers to throw the ball before he wants to.
“It’s like our preseason game,” Rodgers said about the joint practice. “Whether or not we play on Saturday, who knows. If Saleh wants us to, then we will.
“Most of these practices have been one heavy. We took a ton of the reps against Washington and then against Carolina. They got two great, you know, premier pass rushers to get really good interior guys. You know, they’re they’re young in some spots, but it’ll be fun.”
