Subscribe
Follow Us
Aaron Rodgers was supposed to be the messiah who would lift the New York Jets from years of mediocrity. Eight weeks into the 2024 NFL regular season, and the Jets are clearly still below par and with a questionable future.
Following the Jets' embarrassing Week 8 25-22 road loss at the hands of the New England Patriots in Foxborough, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith decided to rip into the future Hall of Fame quarterback as it relates to New York's continuing struggles on the field despite the AFC East franchise agreeing to his personnel desires.
“Aaron Rodgers is going to the Hall of Fame,” Smith began. “Aaron Rodgers is considered, as a talent, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.
“But when you see a team nosedive this way after handing the reins to him, letting him bring in his own offensive coordinator, letting him bring in some of his own receivers, going out and getting one of his greatest weapons, Davante Adams, from his days back in Green Bay, okay?”
"Aaron Rodgers is one of those dudes that when he retires… he is going to fade into the twilight & nobody's gonna think about him at all because of what we're seeing right now… This is epic, epic failure."
Stephen A. Smith sounded OFF on the 2-6 Jetspic.twitter.com/XvxmOtm7dv
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 28, 2024
Since Rodgers got traded by the Green Bay Packers to New York, the Jets have tried to surround him with familiar faces with the hopes that it would spark him into playing like his old self during his time at Lambeau Field. Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard were both acquired by the Jets in 2023, while Adams arrived to the team via a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders just this October.
But the lack of success by the Jets and the team's perceived disinterest with Rodgers under center left Smith questioning the quarterback's legacy.
“Aaron Rodgers is one of those dudes that when he retires… he is going to fade into the twilight & nobody's gonna think about him at all because of what we're seeing right now… This is epic, epic failure,” Smith added.
So far in the 2024 NFL campaign, Rodgers, who will turn 41 in December, has 1,896 passing yards and 12 touchdowns against seven interceptions on just a 50.3 percent completion rate.
Jets can't find way out of mediocrity even with Aaron Rodgers at the helm
Rodgers and the Jets still have time to turn things around, but it's tough to bet on it either. New York is wallowing in the bottom of the AFC East division with a 2-6 record, and despite acquiring Adams and firing Robert Saleh, things have not been better in New York.
Some would argue it only got worse. Winning will take care of everything, but there's no winning happening for the Jets, who are on a five-game losing skid.
The loss to the Patriots can perhaps be considered the nadir of Rodgers' time with the Jets outside of the brutal injury he suffered in Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season. Rodgers was not horrible in that contest as he passed for 233 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions on 17-of-28 passing, but overall, it was a letdown performance by New York.
Where the Jets are at the moment is far from what the ownership and the team's fanbase thought this team would be at, at this point of the campaign.
Rodgers and the Jets can help cool down the temperature in New York with a win in Week 9 at home against CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans.
