The Jets didn’t punt at all during Sunday’s game against the Rams, but that wasn’t a sign that their offense was firing on all cylinders.
After opening the game with an impressive touchdown drive, they turned the ball over on downs three times, missed a field goal and set up the Rams’ game-winning touchdown with a fumble by quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the fourth quarter of the 19-9 loss. The performance came a week after an encouraging outing against the Jaguars and it opened the door to questions about just how much fight the team is going to have left for the final two weeks of the season.
In his postgame press conference, Rodgers was asked about that mindset and said that the team is past “the keeping-the-positive thing” and said that the final weeks will be about players showing they want to be part of the future.
“What you’re focusing on is the most important thing now,” Rodgers said, via a transcript from the team. “That’s not to change the reality of the situation being 4-11, out of the playoffs, going into an unknown offseason, but we’ve got to figure out what it means to be a professional. I think that’s an important part of building culture. The last two weeks we can really see who’s on board moving forward and who is ready to get out. It’s just part of the game. I’ve been on a couple of teams where we’re out of it and it’s interesting to watch the practice habits, the preparation habits. Hopefully we’ll do the right thing and that means a lot because everybody’s watching and it’s a who-you-know business. There will be interesting conversations in the next couple weeks, but just focus on the relationships that we have with each other and try to finish this thing out like a pro.”
With no head coach or General Manager in place, there are big questions for the Jets to answer about their future before they get to whether Rodgers and other players will be sticking around in 2025. The final two weeks may not have much to do with the answers, but everyone will get their chance to make a couple more impressions before the disappointing season finally comes to an end.
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