A longtime enemy of the New York Jets is not ready to throw in the towel just yet on the career of quarterback Aaron Rodgers amid his struggles in his second season with the franchise.
Longtime New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick didn’t seem ready to discard Rodgers as Gang Green was officially doomed to another losing season.
On the latest episode of the ‘Let’s Go!’ podcast, Belichick revealed his belief that the 41-year-old Rodgers could be in line for a bounce-back season in 2025 after rupturing his Achilles tendon in 2023.
‘[Rodgers] could easily rebound from that and be ready to play and have a good year next year,’ Belichick said.
‘You look at all the quarterbacks in the league that are kind of on their second teams and they’re doing pretty well, Russell Wilson and Geno Smith and [Sam] Darnold, Baker Mayfield, you go right down the line, [Matthew] Stafford for that matter, Jared Goff.
‘These guys that switch teams, they get in a different system, things are a little bit different for them, maybe they learn some things from whatever it was their previous experiences were. It changes. When a guy has a long career and a good career, sometimes one season is just a bump in the road. It’s not necessarily the end of the road.’
It’s been an up-and-down season for Rodgers. Flashes of his former greatness have appeared at times, but for the most part, things just haven’t clicked on offense as the Jets sit on a 3-9 record.
The former Super Bowl champion has completed only 62.6 percent of his passes for 2,627 yards, 19 touchdowns, and eight interceptions this season.
Additionally, the Jets are 0-5 in situations where Rodgers has the ball and needs to put up a game-winning drive, according to NFL reporter Connor Hughes.
It’s unclear what awaits Rodgers, as rumors suggest that he wants to play in the NFL next season but not for Gang Green.
But Belichick has seen quarterbacks in the late stages of their careers still find success. In fact, he coached the greatest to ever do so in the form of Tom Brady.
‘That’s one of the toughest things to do as a coach in professional football, is to figure out when that right time is or isn’t,’ Belichick said. ‘One thing you run into sometimes with players as they age in their career is the injury factor.
‘And sometimes players can have an injury at the later point in their career and make it look like maybe it’s an age problem when actually it was an injury problem. And then once that injury clears up, then there’s a lot more good football left in that player.’
Next season will be a complete overhaul for the Jets as they need to choose a new head coach and a new general manager.