Aaron Rodgers isn’t running away from playing out the string in a 3-9 season.
During his weekly appearance Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Rodgers spoke about his mentality entering Gang Green’s final stretch of the season, two days after the team dropped a crushing 26-21 home loss to the Seahawks for their eighth defeat in the past nine games.
“It’s been a rough season. A lot of opportunities to win games that we didn’t get the job done in the fourth quarter,” Rodgers said. “… When you have a chance to win in the fourth quarter and come up short it’s a little extra disappointing.”
Rodgers and the Jets dominated for much of the first half Sunday against the Seahawks until defensive end Leonard Williams — a former Jet — picked off the future Hall of Famer for a touchdown, swinging the momentum in Seattle’s favor.
Moments after the game concluded, interim coach Jeff Ulbrich was asked if the Jets would contemplate a quarterback change, to which he responded, “Not as of today.”
Ulbrich confirmed Monday that Rodgers — who also celebrated his 41st birthday that day — would be the team’s starter entering Week 14.
“We have great belief in Aaron. We really do,” Ulbrich said Monday. “We think he gives us the best opportunity to win.”
The Jets-Rodgers union has failed to meet expectations following the blockbuster trade with Green Bay less than two years ago.
Although Rodgers missed most of 2023 after suffering a season-ending Achilles injury just four snaps into the year, the playoff hopes for 2024 dwindled as the losses piled up.
Rodgers continued Tuesday that he wants to “battle” with his teammates “as long as I feel healthy.”
“We get paid for 17 weeks. Not 10, not 11, not five, so if you’re the starter, you want to play all the games. I want to be out there with my guys and battle as long as I feel healthy,” Rodgers said. “Body feels as good as it felt, whether fortunately or unfortunately for the situation, body feels great I want to be out there, I want to be out there with the guys, I want to battle. Have a lot of pride in playing.”
“One of my goals this year coming back from the Achilles was to play all 17 games. And I assume that would be 17 games plus whatever playoff games we played in, obviously that hasn’t been the case this year. But we still got five games left, would love to be out there battling with the guys.”
Rodgers has thrown 19 touchdowns against eight interceptions through 12 games this season while completing 62.5 percent of his passes.
Despite subpar stats and a season that has seen the firings of head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas, Rodgers expressed that if he should play in 2025, he would like to compete for the Jets.
“I don’t even know if I want to play yet, but New York would be my first option,” he told McAfee last week.
Rodgers also stated: “If I can stay healthy the rest of the year and play the way I want to play and everybody feels good about bringing me back then there’s a decision there.
“… At this point, I’m open to everything and attached to nothing, so, it’s a good place to be.”
The Jets visit the Dolphins on Sunday.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
