The preseason games are right around the corner, and that means it's time for the football to be placed firmly in Tyrod Taylor's hands.
No, there's nothing wrong with Aaron Rodgers' remarkable road back from last year's Achilles tear, and A-Rod will handle the first offense in Thursday's combined practice with Washington at One Jets Drive.
But good health or rehab, Rodgers may not play until the August finale against the Giants if at all this preseason. So it's Taylor's time of year, and after moving the Jets' twos and ones on offense at training camp, he's ready to accept the summer baton as usual when the Jets take on the Commanders in a rare Saturday noon kickoff at MetLife Stadium.
"I think we've done a great job to this point," Taylor said of the Jets offense after Wednesday's walkthrough session. "Obviously, the goal is to continue to get better. Guys are competing at a high level day in, day out. We have a great defense to challenge ourselves with each and every day. Overall, I think we've done a lot of good things, made a lot of progress."
Taylor and Co. have made that progress even while working behind the incomparable Rodgers. But TT, who's been around the NFL almost as long as A-Rod, has embraced the No. 2 spot on the depth chart and said he continues to learn about this game in this training camp playing behind and alongside Rodgers.
"It's been fun getting to know Aaron," he said. "I approach each and every day trying to learn something, and every day I'm around him is an opportunity to learn. I'm more impressed with just his leadership and how he takes command, whether it's a walkthrough, a practice. His attention to detail goes a long way."
As for preseason games, the difference between being the starting QB and the backup can be captured in a quick comparison of the Jets signal-callers' summer numbers. Since 2018, Rodgers has started just two preseason games, most recently last season's finale against the Giants, throwing 12 passes for seven completions and a pair of TDs..
Taylor, meanwhile, has been a backup most of the time since 2018, so the preseason is where he gets to refine his game. He's played in 15 of his teams' 17 preseason games, starting 12 and throwing 128 passes, completing 87 for 68% accuracy, so we can expect him to give his receivers some good work over the next three weeks of intrasquad and combined practices and games. Taylor will also test Washington's run defense, since he has averaged 6.0 yards/carry since '18 and 7.4 yards/carry in all 14 of his previous preseasons as a pro.
It will start to heat up Thursday with the Commanders coming to Florham Park.
"We've practiced against our own guys for about two weeks now, so we'll be getting a different look, a different scheme," Taylor said of the joint practice opportunity. "We get a chance to pretest before we play an actual preseason game. It's about competing, testing your rules, testing your schemes, and going out and competing."
