The 2023 season was supposed to be a big one for the New York Jets. Not just on the field, but also on TV. After the Jets acquired Aaron Rodgers via trade last offseason, the league stacked the schedule with prime-time games — including one on “Monday Night Football” against the division rival Buffalo Bills in Week 1.
We know what happened next. Rodgers tore his Achilles just four plays into the season, the Jets took a turn for the worse, and so did the quality of those games on TV. Fast forward a year, and the Jets once again have a schedule jam-packed with prime-time contests: six of them in the first 11 weeks, to be exact. (Two each on “Monday Night Football,” “Thursday Night Football,” and “Sunday Night Football.”)
And Rodgers himself knows why. “We are must-watch TV and that’s pretty obvious. Everyone knows that,” Rodgers said during a radio interview, via Pro Football Focus. “Whether you love or hate me, people want to see me play.”
Love or hate him, Rodgers is right. People do want to see him play. Not just because of what football fans missed out on seeing last year, but also because he’s one of the best players in NFL history and he’s coming back from a major injury and, oh yeah, he’s on the Jets now!
Last year was supposed to be the first time people saw Rodgers play for a team other than the Packers, and also the first time in quite a while that people saw the Jets get competent or better quarterback play. Running that scenario back this year should indeed make for good TV, win or lose.
