Thirty-five years after George Harrison recorded (Got My Mind) Set on You, Aaron Rodgers spoke today the mind he wants him and his teammates, especially on his side of the football, to be set on for this week of practice and take into the Jets' game at New England on Sunday.
"In New York, good, bad or indifferent, for the last long stretch, it's been win with defense," Rodgers said on today's second h our of The Pat McAfee Show Live. Always a student of history, the QB said the Jets have had "a lot of defensive head coaches, and it's kind of been at times in spite of the offense. We saw last year a lot, our defense would hold them to 13 points and lose, 12 points and lose, 17 points and lose.
"And offensively I think we need to adjust that mindset. Instead of like 'Hey, let's go play well,' it's 'Hey, let's win the game on offense.' "
Rodgers said that approach might seem trivial. Could it possibly help pull the Jets pull out of their four-game losing streak and 2-5 funk and get them flying high again? But as he said, "Mindset's everything," and he credits interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich with stressing that point.
"Brick talks about heart-mind-fist, " Rodgers said. "Heart is why you play, for your teammates and the love of the game. Fist is the violence part of it, controlled violence in a collision sport.
"But the mind, the mindset is so very important. And I think if we can start to think about things in that way ... let's go win it on offense, let's not hang around and wait for the defense to get us a stop or a big turnover, or teams to have an impact play. Let's go win this game on offense and have the mindset of scoring on every possession."
Yet are the Jets ready to emulate the recent Chiefs or this year's Ravens and Lions with an eruption of points and yards? It looked like that could happen until late in the first half at Pittsburgh on Sunday night, when they had the ball and were in position to open a lead of 18-6 or dare we say 22-6 and then get the ball to start the third quarter and possibly go up by three scores.
That's when Rodgers threw his first of two interceptions intended for Garrett Wilson. And he doesn't let himself off the hook when talking about the effects of his first pick over the middle that instead started the Steelers to their first TD and the first 7 of their 31 unanswered points to win going away.
"I'm disappointed in the pick. I feel the first pick, that changed the whole momentum," he said. "The [second] one, off Garrett's chest, that stuff is going to happen. There are always going to be slips and tips and drops. But that first one was a really bad decision by me.
"I think the energy level was good to start the game, as it was in Buffalo. But the energy — and I look at myself first — wasn't good enough. Personally and as a team, we're playing with too much anger and not enough enjoyment."
Rodgers breaks down the mindset he's talking about into several parts. Two that stood out for the Jets to take into the Patriots game are "playing free" and "bringing the energy" that he referred to.
"I think you have to get yourself to a point where, whether you're 2-5 or 5-2 or wherever you are in between, what's the worst that can happen?" he said. "Take your mind to that spot and deal with what's the worst that can happen and what's the best that can happen. And then move on and just play free."
And for the energy part of the equation, Rodgers naturally includes himself, in part because he's the QB and especially because of how he saw energy right Green Bay's ship in 2016 (4-6 start, 6-0 finish and on to the NFC title game) and '22 (4-8 start, 4-0 run before A-Rod lost his last game as a Packer), and talks about each player's "process" from Week 1 to the end of the campaign.
"It's a hyperawareness of your role on the team," he said. "If you're a 'teamer and that's your role, you've got to do that to the best of your abilities every single week. If you're an impact player, you've got to show up every single day and practice the right way. If you're an energy guy, you've got to bring the energy every single day.
"As a quarterback, you're involved in a lot of those things, but you've also got to bring the energy and be that consistent person that people can rally behind."
Rodgers said how the Jets respond will be "interesting," after they went from their home-opening 24-3 victory over the Patriots on TNF to their current skid. But he knows who the team's mindset begins with and when it must kick into high gear.
"It starts with me and I've got to lead the way on that," Rodgers said. "It starts this week on Wednesday."
