When it comes to the NFL, there is no player who attracts as much in the way of ‘non-stories’ as New York Jets veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers and this week, we received another serving of somewhat pointless speculation and ill-founded rumor-mongering.
The 40-year-old QB, who missed all of last season with an injury suffered early into his debut for the Jets, is trying to make up for lost time, and his team has made a strong start to the season.
During their most recent win, an impressive 24-3 victory over the New England Patriots, it appeared that Rodgers refused a half-time hug from head coach Robert Saleh, prompting all manner of discussion from pundits, fans and news reporters.
Unsurprisingly, this was a classic case of a mountain being made out of a molehill, a non-event that took the attention away from a fine win. Fans of the Jets, who have been buoyed by the start, may want to back the MetLife Stadium side to end their lengthy postseason drought, in which case they can make the most of all the crucial info on these New Jersey sports betting apps in order to find the brand that brings in the biggest potential payout.
The win over the Patriots leaves the Jets 2-1, with Saleh’s side reacting well after their opening week loss to the San Francisco 49ers to defeat the Tennessee Titans and then New England.
On the apparent ‘awkward’ hug refusal that occurred at the half-time interval, Rodgers was keen to set the record straight, stating,
“Oh, awkward? No, it wasn’t awkward at all,”
“He’s not a big hugger usually. So, I didn’t know he was going for the hug. He likes to do the two-hand chest push as well. But he talks a lot about two-score leads. So I kind of just gave him a push and said ‘two-score lead.’ That’s what happened.”
The hug, or lack of one, came with the Jets being 14-0 ahead, and Saleh also was at pains to explain the interaction,
“Part of the things that we’ve been talking about is to just get the defense a two-score lead,”
“And it was a two-score lead, so I guess he just wanted to see something on defense. He just reminded me that we got a two-score lead.” Saleh added.
The Jets brought in Rodgers from Green Bay in the hopes that the four-time NFL MVP could push the team back towards the playoffs. Clearly, last season was something of a bust for the former Super Bowl champion and now he is looking more like the player the franchise was keen to bring in.
2010 was the last time the Jets made it to the postseason, when Rex Ryan’s side got all the way to the AFC Championship game, and things have been pretty bleak ever since. Saleh came in from the 2021 season, and in the last two campaigns, he has completed solid 7-10 regular season records and is now looking to take the next step, with Rodgers fundamental to this lofty goal.
