Aaron Rodgers is trying not to focus too much on his return to MetLife Stadium.
However, the New York Jets quarterback knows that everyone will be watching him on Thursday night when he plays against the New England Patriots.
Rodgers has been waiting for over a year to play another game in front of the home fans, hoping to move past the disappointment of his debut in New York last year.
“I mean, I feel good about it. It’s been a long time since I took the field at JetLife,” Rodgers said, referring to the stadium that the Jets share with the Giants. “So, it’ll be a lot of emotions, for sure. But we’re thankfully already into the third game of the season.
“Played two full games, body feels good, about as good as it can on a short week.”
At 40 years old, Rodgers has helped the Jets start the season with a record of 1-1, but he will be playing his third game in 11 days when New York kicks off on Thursday night.
“Yeah, testing the body for sure, but we love to play, so shorter time between games is great,” Rodgers said. “It’s definitely tough on the body, tough on the week, but easier for a guy who’s 20 than a guy who’s 40, but I’ll be ready to go Thursday night and look forward to three days off.”
This game will be Rodgers’ first home match since September 11, 2023, when he ran onto the field holding an American flag during player introductions before the Jets faced the Buffalo Bills.
The atmosphere was electric, filled with excitement until Rodgers went down just four plays into the game with a torn left Achilles tendon.
He briefly wondered if he would ever play again, and after months of tough rehabilitation, he is now ready to play at home instead of watching from the sidelines.
“If you love the game, there’s always emotion,” Rodgers said. “So there’ll be emotion this week, as there always is during the anthem and seeing our crowd and night games and the excitement driving up to the stadium and seeing the tailgates happening.
“It’s always fun.” In his first game after the injury, Rodgers seemed a bit off in New York’s 32-19 loss at San Francisco. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 167 yards, had one touchdown, and threw one interception.
The Jets struggled to find their rhythm, especially since the defense had difficulty getting off the field. With the game out of reach, Rodgers did not play in the final drive.
However, New York did manage to score three touchdowns on offense.
Last Sunday, Rodgers and the offense performed better, winning against the Titans 24-17 in Tennessee. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns without any interceptions.
The offense scored three touchdowns, which marked the first time the Jets had three or more offensive touchdowns in their first two games since 2004.
“We’re looking at an offense that’s still trying to learn itself, find itself and it’s still able to generate scoring drives, more so than most teams in this organization’s past,” coach Robert Saleh said Monday. “So, it’s going in the right direction.”
Rodgers isn’t as mobile as he used to be, but he has been well-protected by the Jets’ improved offensive line, which has allowed him to be sacked only three times in two games.
“I mean, the pocket’s been pretty bucolic, I would say the first couple weeks,” Rodgers said. “It’s been real nice back there. Not many hits, not many sacks, a lot of time. Last week, I felt better than I did Week 1. It’s just confidence, just doing a couple things, escaping the pocket.”
“The next thing will be making a big play outside the pocket, but it’s all stuff I’ve done in practice, I’ve done in training camp. I think it’s just doing more of it.” And he’ll get his next chance to do so in front of the home fans. Finally.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun to be out there with the crowd and, night games, I love night games,” Rodgers said. “So excited about it. No one’s really crazy about Thursday games, but everybody loves the weekend after the Thursday games.”
