On a day on the London international stage, during which he fired his way past one NFL great on one list and climbed onto a lofty pro plateau on another, Aaron Rodgers seemed most concerned about a different kind of statistic that helped shape the Jets' 23-17 loss to the Vikings on Sunday.
"I just found out that I never threw two picks in a first quarter before," Rodgers said after saying about his game, "Obviously, that was below my standard."
No. 8 threw three interceptions at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the first time that had since he was a Packer in mid-2922, The first pick was taken by former Dolphins LB Andrew Van Ginkel 63 yards for an INT-return touchdown that made the early score 10-0.
"Unfortunately," head coach Robert Saleh said, "that pick-six was a big difference in the game."
Rodgers was asked what happened on the play.
"They had a seven-up presentation and we got something we had talked about," he said. "I peeked on the backside or something to the left to see if we were hot or not. Doing that, I totally lost sight of Van Ginkel. He made a nice play."
Even a historic play, by Green & White standards. It was the longest pick-six by an opposing linebacker in Jets franchise history.
Three plays and two passes later, Rodgers overthrew Allen Lazard on a deep post and instead found S Camryn Bynum for the second pick.
The final theft was the crusher. Rodgers was trying to hit Mike Williams near the Vikings 10 in the final minute of the game. Williams didn't turn in time but CB and occasional Jets tormentor Stephon Gilmore did, cradling the pick as he went to ground with 44 seconds left to prevent a fourth-down Rodgers throw to help pull out a miraculous 24-23 win.
Rodgers' line, like his game in general, as Saleh described the Jets' early play, was "up and down": 29-of-54 for 244 yards, 2 short TDs but those 3 picks, all for a 54.9 rating. Under similar duress as was applied by the Broncos the week before, he was sacked three times and hit 11 times by the Purple & Gold's pressure people eaters.
Asked about what's ailing the Jets in their two straight losses after their back-to-back wins, A-Rod ticked off several culprits, not leaving himself out.
"We're playing below our potential," he said. "Too many mistakes. We've been slow starters. Too many mental errors. And too many mistakes in general that are hard to overcome. And for me, I've got to take care of the ball. I can't turn the ball over three times and win in this league."
The shame of it was that the game was set up for a glorious late chapter in the future Hall of Famer's autobiography. He got up slowly and hobbled to the visitors' sideline after an incompletion and a heavy pressure at the Jets 14 with six minutes left in the third quarter, then sneered at his pain.
"I'm definitely banged up. I got my foot caught in the pile there," he said. "But it just seems to be a low ankle sprain. They were trying to get me in the [blue examination] tent but then we got the roughing-the-kicker and I said, screw it, I'm going back out there."
On that drive, the Jets went 16 plays and 83 yards, and after his ankle twisting he completed 5 of 6 as the offense got as close as the Vikes 14 before Greg Zuerlein's short field goal to get the Jets to within one score at 17-10. Three series later, he completed 6 of 8, including the 1-yard toss to Garrett Wilson and it was suddenly 20-17.
Rodgers' passing on those drives helped him roar past those aforementioned milestones. His last pass of the first half, the 10-yard step-up TD strike to Allen Lazard, lifted him past Dan Marino at 65,871 yards and into seventh place on the NFL's all-time passing yardage list for all regular-season and playoff games. Then his first completion of the second half, a 7-yarder to former Vikings TE Tyler Conklin, made him only the ninth QB to pass for 60,000 regular-season yards.
Rodgers wasn't asked about his yardage and ranking accomplishments but he did have some stern yet encouraging words for any fans getting ready to jump off the J-E-T-S bandwagon.
"The most important thing to take with us is that we stick together," he said before the Jets headed back across the pond for One Jets Drive and their next game a week from Monday night at home against the Bills. "A lot of people outside the building won't be sticking with the Jets. If we stick together, I still have confidence in this team that we can still make a run. Whether that starts next week, the following week or whenever it might be, I'm confident in our guys and in leadership that we'll get this thing straightened out."
