Happy Labour Day
Edition #690
Good morning!
Happy Labour Day to all those who celebrate it. I’m now back from Germany having got in last night, one hour before I started work on a La Liga game in Spain, and with the kids deciding to get up at 6am this morning it’s fair to say I’m feeling it 😂
This week the NFL returns, we have three days until Baltimore and Kansas City raise the curtain on the 2024 season. We have to wait a little longer for the Jets to get going, one week today to be exact. We’re going to get into week one over the coming days.
🟢 Former NFL QB and coach Jason Garrett has been talking about Aaron Rodgers for NFL Films - “He's one of the great throwers of his generation and maybe all-time…I was on the other side of it a lot as a coach in Dallas and we had some great battles with them, but he always played so well and played so well in the big moments," Garrett said. "Anyone who watches, it is he just has this unique way of throwing the ball and he throws it like a tennis ball." He added: "He's just an amazing player, first and foremost, and the way he throws the ball I think is unique and as good as anybody who's ever played. To hear him talk about that, the things that he thinks about, the things that are important to him as a passer is really fun. "I think he's a really talented guy, but he's a really thoughtful guy. I think he's had a very natural motion throughout his life. He talked about watching Joe Montana as a kid and then going out in the year and throwing with his brother and his dad and having some of those incredible role models when he was young.
⚪ The Jets official website released an article with quotes from Aaron’s teammates, which you can read in full here, but you have to think this is in direct response to that BS Athletic article which claimed that the Jets were in disarray because Aaron Rodgers was not a team player, which is one of the more ridiculous things I’ve read. Here are some snippets:
Garrett Wilson - “The guy is just so great and so us, as competitors and athletes, we want to match that greatness. We want to find a way to reach his level and he brings that out in us with just the way he is”
Sauce Gardner - “Just watching him and how he attacks the day. It is just something as little as him just picking different people to just have lunch, having breakfast with when he comes in the building, just little things like that. He really is a great dude and football is football.”
Breece Hall - “Me and Aaron have a great connection and we're always talking to each other pre snap about what he wants, what I see, some of the route combinations and concepts when I'm the first read, so he'll ask me like what I want or what I want to run.”
Tyron Smith - “It's really fun being around him. You can feel the experience that he has when you're on the field with him. He definitely knows what he's doing. He makes everything a lot smoother and easier as you're going through everything.”
C. J. Mosley - “On the field, in the building, he is an absolute leader, a lot of respect for him. Everybody has the same respect. Just observing him off the field, he's an observer as well. He doesn't say a lot. He doesn't talk a lot. Might sound a little surprising, but he definitely listens.”
There are a ton more…but you get the point.
🟢 Continuing the Aaron Rodgers love fest, Jets GM Joe Douglas had this to say about it: "He's amazing," Douglas said. "I mean, obviously a first team Hall of Famer and there's days where he just goes out there and he just doesn't miss. Just the command he has with the offense, the ability to get the offense into the right play against the right defense, the accuracy, the delivery, the leadership, and also having a great room."
⚪ Just to confirm something that happened at the weekend as there was some initial confusion. Jason Brownlee is back with the Jets and won’t be signing with Buffalo. Brownlee cleared waivers and the Jets announced his signing, cutting Lance McCutcheon at the same time. Great to have Jason back, we know he has talent, it’s just about getting the best
🟢 CBS ranked the top-10 NFL QBs who have something to prove heading into 2024 and unsurprisingly Aaron was there - “Rodgers has little to prove from a career perspective; he's already a safe bet for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as one of the game's most accomplished precision passers. In terms of late-stage legacy, however, it all boils down to whether he can live up to the Super Bowl aspirations that instantly flooded into New Jersey upon his trade from the Green Bay Packers in 2023. Going on 41, coming off an Achilles tear that robbed him of all but four snaps in his Gang Green debut, Rodgers is looking to show the world once and for all that he's still got gas in the tank as the headlining leader of a playoff-caliber lineup.”
⚪ Alan Lazard has had an up-and-down camp, more up than down. He’s looking to respond in a big way after a disappointing year: “It was a difficult year,” Lazard said. “It was tough just from the fact that up until last year I worked my whole career to get that stability and security. I came to a new city with new adventures, kind of feeling like I’m finally got to this check in my life … and then obviously the season is what the season was.”
We’re going to be slowly working our way through the matchups heading into San Francisco. This is going to be one of the toughest tests of the season, but it’s also going to be a great measuring stick for the 2024 Jets.
One of the biggest earliest tests is going to revolve around how the Jets handle George Kittle in the passing game. He may not be THE best receiving TE in football, but he’s extremely well rounded and poses a huge threat to the Jets.
Kittle has four 1000+ yard receiving seasons to his name and has 18 touchdowns in the last two years. Last year his average depth of target was 9.9 yards, the highest mark in his career and his 7.3 yards after catch average was his best mark since 2019.
Our defensive line is elite, our cornerbacks are elite, our linebackers are elite…but there are some question marks over the safety position. The Jets expect to start former UDFA Tony Adams and former Raven Chuck Clark, who’s returning after missing the entire 2023 season due to injury. There is huge potential in that combination, but this will be the first time they’ve ever played a competitive game together.
It’s going to be a team effort. If you look at how Travis Kelce was covered last year in the game against the Chiefs, the majority of the responsibility fell on linebackers Quincy Williams and C. J. Mosley
Holding Kelce to 6 catches for 60 yards and 0 TD while picking up an INT on an intended target is elite. They did something similar against Dallas Goedert when they came up against Philadelphia, this time they came away with 2 INT’s.
It was the same story against Kyle Pitts and the Falcons, showing that the Jets know how to cover tight ends. They do mix up coverages, and they do bracket the better receiving tight ends in football, so expect to see plenty of that against George Kittle.
Kittle’s overall numbers last season were excellent:
1,132 receiving yards
7 touchdowns
15.5 yards per reception
But there were a few advanced numbers that tell a slightly different story. His 8.8% drop rate was the highest since 2020 and the second highest mark of his career. His 37.5% success rate on contested catches was the lowest mark since 2018 and the second lowest of his career and his 72.3% reception rate was the lowest since 2018. So while he had a good year, it certainly wasn’t the best year by his standard, not to mention he was held to just 4 yards in the Super Bowl.
There is a blueprint from Spagnuolo there and it involved mixing up a lot of coverages and blitzes and most of all trusting your defensive players to handle him one on one at points, they had moments in that Super Bowl where they had rookie 4th round pick Chamarri Connor on him in single coverage, but by that point Kittle was completely off balance.
Kittle is going to offer a fantastic test for the Jets, but based on last season they should have a plan to shut him down.
The Jets Mike Williams will be on a pitch count, guessing 20- 25 reps. On the San Francisco side, will Brandon Aiyuk be on a pitch count ? Could speak to the value of training camp, is he in football shape ? Certainly has to affect timing. Trent Williams is an elite left Tackle, but he is 36, hasn’t been in the building, not sure how you bring him back, but playing him next Monday seems irresponsible. McCaffery with his calf injury should be okay, but it might be prudent to put him on a pitch count. Not an expert on the 49ers, but they don’t seem to be a very deep team. CAP restrictions seem to have had an effect on their roster.
You look at the Jets depth chart, it would seem that the Jets have left a spot open for another consistent WR. An injury at WR, could be catastrophic. Unbelievably happy that Jason Brownlee is back, he is a second year UNDFA, but he has put in the work, he is not there yet, but could be on the brink of being a productive WR on the varsity. Brandon Smith & Jason Brownlee will compete on the PS, for an elevation, and I would hope that cagey veteran Mike Williams could mentor.
When the Jet’s schedule was initially released, many fans were not happy that they were opening up in Frisco.
But since the process the NFL uses to make the schedule has the AFC East playing the NFC West and the AFC South this year, it is what it is. They have to play them.
While have no statistical data to back this up, it would appear that more underdogs win in the first two weeks of the season.
While there could be many reasons for this, for this game in particular, let’s try to examine a few.
As well known as the Jet defense is, not even the truest of Jet fans can tell you what the Jets offense is going to be.
The past two years, the Jet’s offensive line room has resembled a M*A*S*H unit injury tent. Presently this is the healthiest this unit has been in two years plus the fact it’s probably the most talented Jet offensive line in years. Add in the fact that this is probably the healthiest the Jets team as a whole has been in a quite a while.
Rodgers is also an unknown factor. Who is he. Is he 40 going on 45 or 40 going on 35.
While his injury last year was the second worse in Jet history, that distinction sadly belongs to Dennis Byrd unfortunately, who suffered the most disastrous, soul crushing in Jet history. Rodgers is still a mystery.
People forget that in 2022, he suffered a thumb injury against the Giants in London, the Packers played the Jets the following week who held him in check in a 27-10 victory. Rumor has it which has been dispelled that a certain Jets fan with the initials of DWH, was in the stands in London with a voodoo doll dressed in a #12 Packer uniform, sticking needles into it the whole game.
One more unknown factor offensively for the Jets is Mike Williams. What can he bring to the table.
Currently he has had as many Jet training camp snaps as Where’s Waldo#7.
Much to Jet fans delight, Frisco has had their own contract issues. While settling one this past weekend, the second one could have a big effect on the game.
All pro tackle Trent Williams is refusing to budge on his demands. If he doesn’t play next week hopefully the Jet rushers can take advantage of his replacement.
Frisco also has had injury issues to their running back room. Second string Elijah Mitchell was just put on IR.
It is very doubtful that starting safety Talanoa Hufanga will play.
There was also the tragic shooting of first round pick, wr, Ricky Pearsall this past Saturday. Miraculously, he was released from the hospital yesterday. While entering his chest and exiting out of his back, the bullet did not hit any vital body part. All the members of the Brigade wish him a speedy recovery.
Just maybe the schedule maker, did the Jets a big favor having them open in Frisco.
I know this is really looking ahead but the Jets in 2025 will have to face the AFC North and the NFC South.
Trivia time, while looking at Rodgers stats against the Jets at Lambeau in 2022. He went 26-41 246yds 1 td sacked 4 times. Current Jet Lazard was 4-76-1td. I noticed a name that I barely recognized. He picked up a block punt by Clemons and scored a 20 yard td.
You really have to be really good to know this player.