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Being 40 years old doesn’t seem to have impacted the amount of zip Aaron Rodgers gets when he throws a football.
Appearing on PFT Live with Mike Florio and Chris Simms this week, New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner explained his gloves had “burn marks on them” when he tried to intercept a pass thrown by Rodgers during a practice this season.
“He’s gonna zip the ball,” Gardner said. “I remember this one play in practice, he threw the ball to the receiver. I almost picked it. My hands are there. The ball went through my hands. My gloves had burned, like burn marks on them. It went that fast. I couldn’t believe it. I’m like, ‘Bro this is the first time this has ever happened.’ Like, he’s just different.”
Rodgers’ arm strength and accuracy have routinely been cited as two of his greatest assets, especially as he’s gotten older and lost some of his athleticism.
A panel of ESPN experts ranked Rodgers as having the best accuracy and fourth-strongest arm in the league going into the 2022 season. He was behind Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert in the latter category.
Rodgers was coming off back-to-back MVP seasons at that point. He didn’t look as good during the 2022 campaign with the Green Bay Packers, but his 3,695 passing yards would have been the fifth-most by a quarterback in Jets history. His 26 touchdown passes would have been the most by a Jets player since Ryan Fitzpatrick had 31 in 2015.
You can understand why Jets fans, who have long been hoping for anything resembling a competent quarterback, were so tantalized by getting to see Rodgers throwing passes wearing a green and white jersey.
Things, unfortunately, didn’t work out when Rodgers suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon on New York’s first offensive possession of the season. He is working his way back to play in 2024.
Based on Gardner’s comments about what Rodgers is still capable of doing in practice, Jets fans can start thinking about what the offense might look like next season.
