Tight end Tyler Higbee is set to make his 2024 debut.
Higbee does not have an injury designation for Sunday’s game against the Jets and is set to play. He is coming off a torn ACL and MCL suffered in last season’s playoff loss to Detroit.
Higbee was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and Friday. He missed Thursday, but he also is listed with an illness.
The Rams have a totally clean injury report for Week 16, as all players are expected to be available.
Cornerback Cobie Durant (chest), receiver Jordan Whittington (shoulder), tight end Davis Allen (shoulder), and receiver Demarcus Robinson (shoulder) were listed on the report this week.
On Thursday, TheAthletic.com dropped a report on the Jets’ organizational dysfunction, including the note that owner Woody Johnson nixed a trade for Jerry Jeudy because Johnson felt Jeudy’s rating on EA Sports’ Madden NFL video game was too low.
Jeudy, who was instead traded to the Browns in March and signed an extension with the club, was asked his feelings on that report.
“To be honest, I don’t believe it. I think that’s fake news,” Jeudy said, via Daryl Ruiter of 92.3 The Fan. “For real, why would somebody look at Madden ratings? Be real. I don’t think that’s real, but it is funny.”
If it is true, however, Jeudy’s not mad about it.
“I’m glad that I’m here,” Jeudy said. “I’m glad my Madden rating was low. Yeah, got me here.”
Jeudy’s season took off when Jameis Winston became Cleveland’s QB1 in Late October. He’s now set career highs with 70 receptions and 1,052 yards. He’s also caught four touchdowns.
“I feel like I belong there,” Jeudy said. “I’ve been working my tail off through this whole off season and now it’s finally showing being put in a position I’m in now. Now it’s time to take advantage of every opportunity coming forward.”
Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson becomes eligible for a contract extension after this season. He is signed through 2025 with a fifth-year option in 2026.
Wilson wouldn’t say definitely Thursday that he wants to stay with the Jets long term.
“I don’t know, man,” Wilson, a 2022 first-round pick, said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN. “I just go about my day. Wherever my feet are at. If they [extend my contract], that would be a blessing. It would be awesome. I love the Jets. At the end of the day, they were the ones that believed in me. But, yeah, I can’t be worrying about that. I have to go out and finish these three games the right way.”
Cimini reports that a source “wouldn’t be surprised if Wilson asks for a trade” in the offseason.
The Jets have many offseason decisions and who they hire as their new head coach and what they do at the quarterback position likely dictate Wilson’s mindset about his future.
Garrett has not hidden his frustration this season, including in Sunday’s win over the Jaguars when he ranted to receivers coach Shawn Jefferson following a stalled red zone drive in the third quarter.
He has 84 receptions for 933 yards and six touchdowns.
Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy has interviewed with the Jets for their General Manager vacancy.
The Jets announced this afternoon that they have interviewed Nagy, who had been an NFL scout, most recently for the Seahawks, before the Senior Bowl hired him to run its annual event.
Other candidates for the Jets GM job include former Titans GM Jon Robinson, former Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick.
The Jets fired General Manager Joe Douglas during this season. Phil Savage has been operating as the team’s interim GM since then.
The article in TheAthletic.com that complicates the Jets’ effort to hire a high-end G.M. and coach contains plenty of interesting nuggets.
We posted one earlier — the influence of Madden ratings on personnel decisions.
The item also alleges that owner Woody Johnson, his wife, and his sons have criticized players inside the locker room.
Per the report, quarterback Mike White entered the locker room after a late-season loss to the Seahawks. He threw his helmet onto the floor before heading to the shower.
Jets players reportedly heard Woody say this: “You should throwing your helmet, you fucking suck.”
The Jets, through a spokesperson, confirmed that it happened — and that Johnson apologized to White.
It’s stunning that it happened. It’s stunning that the Jets admit it happened.
It won’t be stunning if this report dramatically impacts the ability of the Jets to hire the coach they want, to hire the G.M. they prefer, and to attract free agents without having to overpay.
Dysfunctional teams indeed do dysfunctional things.
The latest evidence of dysfunction within the New York Jets comes from TheAthletic.com. Among various juicy nuggets contained in the #longread is a claim that owner Woody Johnson nixed a trade with the Broncos for receiver Jerry Jeudy because Johnson believed Jeudy’s Madden rating was too low.
Per the report, that wasn’t the only time Johnson cited Madden ratings in connection with football decisions. Johnson reportedly pushed back on signing guard John Simpson because his “awareness” rating on Madden was too low. (Maybe even lower than Woody’s.)
The Madden factor apparently comes from Woody’s teenage sons, Brick and Jack.
“When we’re discussing things, you’ll hear Woody cite something that Brick or Jack read online that’s being weighed equally against whatever opinion someone else in the department has,” an unnamed Jets executive told TheAthletic.com.
The Jets actually provided a statement to TheAthletic.com acknowledging the involvement of the teens, and defending it.
“It is used as a reference point; it is not determinative,” a Jets spokesperson said regarding Brick and Jack’s input. “It’s really sad that an adult would use a misleading anecdote about teenagers to make their father look bad. It’s ridiculous, quite honestly, the idea that this was used to influence the opinion of experienced executives. . . . [The sons] have no roles in the organization. It’s completely ridiculous to suggest that any outside info is intended to replace the opinions of [Woody Johnson’s] staff.”
They might have no official role, but let’s face it. They eventually will. And one of them likely will inherit the team, unless Woody sells it.
And even if there’s no official role for now, Brick was handing out a game ball after a rare victory.
“It was the most awkward, cringe-worthy, brutal experience,” an unnamed player told TheAthletic.com.
It feels like the Jets under Woody Johnson are constantly prompting that reaction.
Aaron Rodgers hasn’t committed to playing in 2025 for the Jets or anyone else, but he did entertain a hypothetical about being back with the team during his Wednesday press conference.
Rodgers was asked a couple of questions about Kirk Cousins’s situation in Atlanta, including if he’d be open to returning to the Jets if they told him they would be drafting a quarterback early as the Falcons did with Michael Penix Jr. Rodgers referenced being in Green Bay when Jordan Love was drafted in his answer while saying that he’d be open to having a hand in developing another quarterback.
“When they drafted Jordan, I felt like I was one bad stretch from being benched and I won MVP a couple years,” Rodgers said, via a transcript from the team. “So, that’s the way the League is — you got to prove that you can play every single week, and through stretches. So, if they ask me back and they drafted a guy, I’d mentor the hell out of him if I was playing and I’d try to play as well as I could to keep him on the bench.”
Rodgers’s time in Green Bay after they drafted Love wasn’t always smooth sailing and he was playing at a much higher level than he has throughout this season with the Jets. Both of those things would be among the many considerations for all involved as they plot a path forward come the offseason.
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has played better over the past couple of weeks. Does that make him more likely to come back next year?
“I’m gonna take some time after the year, unless I get released right away,” Rodgers told reporters next year. “But I’ll still take some time, whether or not I wanna play. But I’ll take some time, get away from it, either way.”
He has said before that he wants to know if the Jets want him to return, before he decides whether he wants to play for the Jets. He also has said his first choice is to play for the Jets.
He was a little less unequivocal about the Jets being his first choice, acknowledging that he’s said it before meandering through the changes the franchise will be undergoing.
With a new G.M. and a new coach coming, whether the Jets want him will depend in large part on who’s making the decision. It also will depend on the other options they have.
Ultimately. owner Woody Johnson will have a fairly significant say.
All in all, it’s easy to envision the Jets wanting to move on. It’s also easy to envision Rodgers wanting to finish his career with a better team — if his career isn’t entirely finished.
Aaron Rodgers’s weekly appearances on ESPN can be problematic, especially if he’s going to take shots at ESPN talent while on ESPN.
He did just that last Tuesday, in his visit with Pat McAfee.
“I’m talking about these experts on TV who nobody remembers what they did in their career,” Rodgers said, via Bryan Fonseca of the New York Post. “So in order for them to stay relevant, they have to make comments that keep them in the conversation. That wasn’t going on in 2008, 2009. The SportsCenter of my youth, those guys made highlights so much fun. And that’s what they showed on SportsCenter.
“Now, it’s all talk shows and people whose opinions are so important now and they believe they’re the celebrities now, they’re the stars for just being able to talk about sports or give a take about sports, many of which are unfounded or asinine, as we all know. But that’s the environment we’re in now.”
That comment rankled ESPN personality Ryan Clark.
“The reason you’re getting the opportunity to say these asinine things is because someone is paying you— exactly like the people you’re calling out,” Clark said regarding Rodgers on ESPN’s First Take. “This dude is a fraud. He’s been a fraud. He acts like he’s above everybody and everything.”
Rodgers got the last word, at least for now. He did so while making a more general observation that flows from his deep-seated persecution complex.
He has said in the past that those in the media who criticize him are doing so at the behest of Big Pharma. Because, obviously, it can’t be due to the merits, or lack thereof, of his words or the content, or lack thereof, of his character. The only explanation for any criticism of Rodgers, in his mind, must be that someone has been corrupted by money.
“Say whatever the fuck you want about me, I don’t care,” Rodgers told McAfee and A.J. Hawk on Tuesday. “But just before you do it, whether you state your name, your accolades, pronouns, whatever it is, just state your vax status, so that anything you say afterwards gets put in the right light. Just get it out there. Because then when you say things about me, people can at least be like, ‘Oh, you are captured by the multibillion-dollar propaganda Skyhawk and you’re still upset about it. . . .
“Hey, you know what I mean? Just put that in the — just so everybody knows where you’re coming from. Everybody knows. OK, cool, you’re twice vaxed Moderna with three booster shots, and then boom, boom, boom say what you want to say, whatever. I don’t care. I’m just saying a PSA, just please help everybody out who’s wondering, ‘Where is this coming from?’ Including myself. I’m like, ‘Where the fuck’s this coming from?’ But just give a little PSA. Do a little bit of digging and then you know where it’s all coming from. You’re captured, you’re highly vaccinated, and then say whatever the hell you want to say about me because I couldn’t give two shits about it.”
And if it wasn’t clear Rodgers was referring to Clark, Rodgers added this: “You don’t just need a brooch with your initials. Put your vax status on there, too.”
It’s ridiculous. Three years later, Rodgers is still mad that he got caught lying about being vaccinated. He still bristles at the fact that, at that moment, he became a heel.
Aaron, we’re not getting paid by Big Pharma to say what we think about: (1) your initial lie about being vaccinated; (2) your obsession with relitigating it; and (3) your bizarre belief that anyone who would dare to criticize you has been bought off.
Strange as it might seem, it’s possible that people will genuinely not like some of the things you say and some of the things you do. Without anyone paying them to do it.
Veteran defensive back Jalen Mills’s first interception of the 2024 season came on their final snap of the 2024 season.
Mills picked off a Mac Jones pass in the first half of last Sunday’s 32-25 win over the Jaguars, but needed medical attention after the play and interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich announced on Wednesday that Mills’s season is over. Mills suffered a broken collarbone on the play and will end the year on injured reserve.
Mills signed to the Jets’ practice squad in September and started eight of their last nine games. He had 44 tackles, six passes defensed, and one forced fumble to go with last week’s interception.
The effort Mills gave was worth bringing him back in 2025, but the Jets will need to find their new head coach and General Manager before making any personnel decisions.
