Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz looks at the one big thing for New York’s offseason – get and keep their franchise quarterback healthy and on the field.
Video Transcript
JASON FITZ:Β It’s time to look ahead at one big thing facing the New York Jets this off season. Do I have to say it? Is it like “Voldemort”? Are we allowed to say? It’s Aaron Rodgers. We all know the big thing facing the Jets this off season is Aaron Rodgers, and what kind of health can he have?
We spent so much of last year unrealistically looking to see if he could come back from an Achilles injury that it’s almost clouded our vision on how important it is that he be able to come back quickly this year. Look, he can say all day long he’s having the most fun he’s ever had and this is electric and this is where he wants to be, but he’s got to be able to stay on the field.
The Jets leveraged everything to try to put themselves into a Super Bowl conversation right now. I believe, even with a healthy Aaron Rodgers, they’re not in that conversation.
But if you are everyone in that organization, from the front office to the head coaches, to everybody involved in day-to-day operations, you know one thing– if Aaron Rodgers is healthy and you win a bunch of football games, you’re going to keep your job. If he’s not, you’re not going to win a lot of football games and you are going to lose your job.
This isn’t just about how good or bad the Jets can be. This is about how good or bad the Jets will be for years moving forward. Aaron Rodgers needs to not only be healthy, he needs to play incredibly well. He needs to have virtually no rust. He needs to do impossible things, which we spent much of last year presuming he would suddenly do.
Now that we’re done talking about medical miracles, let’s focus on what’s actually real. And the reality of it is they need to keep Aaron Rodgers out of the darkness during the off season. They need to keep Aaron Rodgers happy during the off season. They need to find a way to get this team to gel during the off season.
And then, when the season begins, they got to find a way to keep him upright and keep him healthy, and make sure that he can give them some sort of a chance to be the best version of themselves.
