FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — On the last day of practice the New York Jets will have before they break for the summer, the starting offense needs a first down.
The unit is in red-zone period and it is third-and-short, inside the 10. Aaron Rodgers takes the snap and reads the right side of the field, where there is nothing. This, though, might all be part of the plan. When Rodgers pats the ball and opens his hips to the left, the linebacker in the middle of the field has been looked off, giving Rodgers the window to whip a pass to the left sideline, where Garrett Wilson has leaked past the coverage of cornerback Michael Carter II on a quick out.
A couple of plays later, the offense will score a touchdown. Wilson will make his way up the sideline, dapping teammates, shaking hands. Then, when Rodgers is met by the receiver, the four-time league MVP will tap Wilson’s helmet and the two will huddle for a debrief, during which Rodgers will audit the timing, placement, spacing, non-verbal signaling − just the sheer amount of nuance it takes to win his trust on the field.
“That’s everything, bro,” Wilson told USA TODAY Sports recently after that practice. “Being on the same page with the dude that’s slinging you the ball is − if you take your job seriously and you’re a receiver, tight end or running back − it’s really valuable. I didn’t really know how much went into being great. Being around him, I can see that now.”
Rodgers, notoriously, is exacting. This is one reason why, breaking with his recent history of skipping the voluntary portion of organized team activities in his final seasons in Green Bay, he chose to participate in New York’s entire program.
These pre- and post-snap debriefings are not dissimilar to what Rodgers – and many other top-tier quarterbacks – would do in a regular practice. But this will be the first of his 19 seasons spent outside of the Packers organization after a late-April trade. And though New York hired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to install a similar system to the one Rodgers orchestrated under Hackett in Green Bay from 2019-21, and while the Jets have added two of Rodgers’ favorite receivers in Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, the signal-caller’s presence at OTAs was crucial in getting the rest of the team up to speed.
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Receivers coach Zach Azzanni, whom the team hired in February, estimates that less than 10% of the signaling that Rodgers does at the line of scrimmage had been installed through the offseason. There have been growing pains, as expected.
Earlier in New York’s final practice of the offseason program, Rodgers was at the line of scrimmage during a walk-through period, set to take the snap when he saw a look from the defense and wanted to make an adjustment. He flashed a signal and the receivers paused and looked toward Azzanni, asking what it meant. Azzanni shrugged his shoulders because he had never seen it before.
“Obviously Aaron knows what he wants and knows how he wants it,” Azzanni said. “I think there are certain plays where Aaron is good with some gray, and there are certain plays where Aaron is like, ‘I need you to be here, at this yardage, at this landmark, and that’s where I need you.’ “
It has gotten to the point where, when the offense is installing a new play or concept prior to a practice, Azzanni will ask Lazard and Cobb in the receivers meeting room if there is anything he missed in teaching the detail that Rodgers might prefer a different way.
“Aaron has developed these habits and these routines that are just engrained in him,” Lazard told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s more that we got to adjust to him and be on his level. That’s really what I’ve been trying to implement with some of these younger guys.
“It’s funny cause my receiver coach back in Green Bay, Jason Vrable, always joked with me and Cobb about how we could be coaches and we were always like, ‘Nah, that’s not for us.’ But, the truth is, we both really been coaches since we got here.”
Lazard will be entering his sixth season playing with Rodgers; Cobb his 11th. A key relationship that has blossomed over Rodgers’ time in New York’s offseason program, however, is with a player who is in his first season with Rodgers. It just so happens to be the one who will be feeding him the ball.
Centers play a key role for quarterbacks, helping diagnose defensive alignments. During a recent practice, Connor McGovern identified the middle linebacker in a process called “Mikeing,” but Rodgers altered that call because of a look the defense was giving.
“What he does with cadences, what he does with running offenses with his checks and how he sees things is so different and so next-level to any quarterback I’ve been around,” McGovern told USA TODAY Sports. “To get used to working with him and getting on that page of taking it to the next level of cerebral football is super important. It just takes reps; that’s why it was so big that he was here.”
Rodgers, for his part, has appeared to enjoy the transition, saying the six weeks of the offseason program were “the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
On April 29, he, Lazard, McGovern, running back Breece Hall and backup quarterback Tim Boyle attended Game 6 of the New York Rangers’ NHL playoff series against the New Jersey Devils. The following day, he was courtside for the New York Knicks’ second round series opener in the NBA playoffs against the Miami Heat. He attended the Tony Awards on June 11 with tight end C.J. Uzomah.
He has been a part of several dinners with teammates and has floated the idea of gathering teammates ahead of the start of training camp in July for days of private workouts.
If and when that happens, his new teammates can expect at least one thing: They should be prepared for anything.
“The fun part isn’t the walkthroughs, to not just turn your brain off and be a robot,” Rodgers said. “Test them on signals, test them on cadence, test them on alignments and slight adjustments we might have talked about just in the locker room.
“It has been good, the guys pick it up good.”
