During the Jets' third practice open to fans, on Tuesday, QB Aaron Rodgers and WR Garrett Wilson had a passionate conversation on the sideline following an incomplete pass in which the two appeared to have a miscommunication about the route.
The moment was captured on video and made the rounds on social media, labeled as a "heated" and "fiery." Speaking to the media Thursday, Wilson set the record straight.
"Those videos can look a certain way," Wilson said. "We are both passionate guys on the field, and I am a different guy on the field than when people see me after the game and Aaron is kind of the same way. We are like-minded, trying to find a way to attack our defense. He will tell me why he needed me at this depth and I as a receiver will share stuff with him, too. With social media it may look a certain way, but I try not to worry about it too much, it is not real. When me and him are having those conversations, we are getting better."
Throughout the first week and a half of camp, Rodgers and Wilson have frequently had constructive conversations. They have been working diligently since OTAs to develop chemistry and theses chats are simply part of the process.
"I feel way more comfortable having those conversations now because it has been a year and a half," Wilson said. "But as far as on-field reps, we don't have a year and half worth of those, so we need to make up sometimes there and we are willing to do what it takes. I feel like we have different connection than last year. We were feeling each other out last year and we were obviously very complimentary but now it is sharing what we are doing not well."
Rodgers added: "I think there's often appearance versus reality in life and on the football field and what it appears to be might not always be what the reality actually is as far as whether or not we're upset with each other. We're just passionately talking about the details of a situation that might not have to do with either of us. G and I got a great relationship, and we spend time together off the field. On the field, there's a way of doing things that we both agree on and when it doesn't look exactly how we want it to sometimes there's some side conversations that happen. I love those conversations."
The discussions have paid dividends early on this summer. Following an uneven first two practices with pads Monday and Tuesday, Rodgers and Wilson connected for three touchdowns during Thursday's scrimmage periods.
Starting down near the goal line, Rodgers faked a handoff, rolled to this right and flipped a pass to Wilson who beat his defender off the line for an easy score. Later, Wilson got open on an out route, caught the pass from Rodgers and stretched the ball across the goal line for a touchdown.
The Jets closed practice with a red-zone period. Midway through the session, Wilson ran a crosser and after his defender got caught up going across the middle, Rodgers found the third-year wideout for a wide-open score.
"If we go out there and do the same thing we did the day before, that is not where we are supposed to be at," Wilson said. "We are taking the notes we took watching film and taking it to the field. We always do a good job of competing, but I think the next step is finding a win in those situations and competition periods out there and we did that today, so it was a good day."
Wilson and Rodgers plan to keep communicating. Wilson is coming off consecutive 1,000-yard receiving efforts while Rodgers, returning from a torn Achilles tendon, has been the sixth-most accurate quarterback on intermediate and deep passes over his most recent seasons according to Pro Football Focus. If health holds, the Rodgers-to-Wilson connection has a chance to be special.
"I want to be better for Aaron because he can make your life really easy," Wilson said. "I need to be on my details, and he has been on me about being on my details. I am just checking in with him after drives and after plays after we see something on the field, because I want to fix them."
Rodgers added: "He [Wilson] has got to get on my page, but I got to get on his page, too, because he's got a whole book that I need to understand fully of skillset, and ability, and feel, and rhythm, and all the different things that he does out there, so those are good conversations, they might appear to be much more heated than they are, but there's usually a smile on our face afterwards, at least one of us."
