A day after interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich reiterated that Aaron Rodgers is the Jets quarterback and expressed "great belief" in his starter, Rodgers described his mindset during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
"I just want to finish off as well as we can," Rodgers said. "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. Some of those games were won and lost in maybe the first, second and third quarter if you go back to the some of the important impact plays, which again was the case on Sunday. But when you have a chance to win in the fourth quarter and come up short, it's always a little extra disappointing."
The Jets fell to 3-9 last Sunday with a 26-21 loss to the Seahawks at MetLife Stadium. In a familiar script, the Jets failed to close a game late as the Green & White have lost six games by 6 points or fewer. Over his 12 starts, Rodgers has completed 62.5% of his passes and has thrown 19 TDs against 8 INTs.
"We get paid for 17 weeks – not 10, not 11, not 5." Rodgers said. "So if you're the starter, you want to play all the games so that's how I feel. I want to be out there with my guys and battle as long as I feel healthy. My body feels as good as its felt whether fortunately or unfortunately for the situation. My body feels great, I want to be out there, I want to be out there with the guys, I want to battle. I have a lot of pride in playing."
After the Jets acquired Rodgers from the Packers on April 26, 2023, Rodgers' first season in New York came to an abrupt end when he sustained a torn Achilles tendon against the Bills four snaps into Week 1. He returned to action this season and the Jets moved to 2-1 after a 24-3 victory Week 3 Thursday night over the Patriots. But the Jets have lost seven of eight, and the offense ranks No. 31 overall (291.3 yds/g) and No. 26 in scoring (18.8 pts/g).
"2024 was a grind, physically, for sure," Rodgers said Tuesday. "The work to just get back on to the field and dealing with a couple little issues I've had this season, but it's been a really beautiful year. I don't have any regrets about coming to New York. In fact, I'm so thankful. If I didn't come to New York, my life wouldn't look the way it looks now. I was thinking about that – how many beautiful blessings have come into my life since being a Jet and there's a lot of them. People, experiences, memories. There are so many individuals that work in the building that I would've never met."
A grateful Rodgers is emphasizing pride and accountability. While the Jets won't be playing for a postseason berth, Rodgers maintains that everyone will be judged by their actions.
"With our GM relieved and our head coach relieved and an interim head coach – everything is being watched at all times," he said. "The habits that you're going to let go or you might not think are as important because we're out of it and we don't have a chance says a lot about you."
Rodgers will make his 237th regular-season start in Sunday's game against the Dolphins. And while he has endured a lot of bumps in his two seasons with the Jets, the NFL's oldest player, who turned 41 on Monday, has a passion for the game that endures.
"I still love the game, and I just want to finish this season out the right way," he said.
