Aaron Rodgers didn’t practice Thursday.
After Jets coach Robert Saleh woke up and saw the inclement weather, he decided to sit his 40-year-old quarterback in a joint practice with the Commanders.
“He’s taking every rep in practice, so I just felt it was unnecessary,” Saleh said, via Eric Allen of the team website. “Heightened environment, unfamiliar foes in terms of taking care of one another. I just didn’t want to expose him to do it. . . . If it was clean outside, he would have practiced today. Call it overprotection, but it was just a decision that I made.”
Rodgers, whose healed Achilles’ tendon has allowed him to fully participate in training camp, “pushed back” when told of Saleh’s decision. The Jets, though, have joint practices with the Panthers and Giants over the next two weeks.
“He wanted to go, but in the grand scheme of things trying to keep forward thinking with regards to Week 1 and we got a long way for that,” Saleh said. “He’ll have other opportunities coming up with Carolina and the Giants.”
Saleh recently said his “instinct” is that Rodgers would not play in the preseason this year, but Rodgers pushed back on that, too. Rodgers said it was “news” to him that he wouldn’t play in the preseason.
Rodgers, who played 10 snaps in the final preseason game in 2023, might win that one.
Saleh said Thursday that he and Rodgers have had “preliminary discussions” about Rodgers playing in the third exhibition game against the Giants. Nothing has been decided.
“He’s going to be included in the conversations along with the coordinators and [General Manager] Joe [Douglas], and we’re going to make the best decision for the team,” Saleh said.
Rodgers played only four snaps in the regular season before his injury in 2023. He is in a good place heading into the 2024 season.
“I think he’s in a great space mentally,” Saleh said. “I keep telling people that his arm looks like he’s 30, so he’s champing at the bit. He’s ready to roll and he looks really good.”