In receiver Allen Lazard’s Thursday press conference, he referred to the system the Jets will run this year as “the Aaron Rodgers offense.”
Asked about that comment in his own presser, Rodgers chose to characterize the scheme in a different way, centered around his once-and-current offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
“Well listen, I’m not going to say it’s ‘my’ offense,” Rodgers said. “It’s one I’ve had success in, for sure. But back in 2020, it was a conglomeration of what Matt [LaFleur] wanted to run, what ‘Hack’ had run in the past, and what I had run in the past. So, we just fit together. And this is kind of an offshoot of that with maybe a little more West Coast flavor to it.
“But this is really Hackett’s offense that I’ve been able to collaborate with him on. And I love it, but there is a lot of teaching for sure.”
Rodgers won back-to-back MVP awards with Hackett as his offensive coordinator with Green Bay in 2020 and 2021 — though LaFleur was the offensive play-caller as head coach.
Rodgers added that because key players like Breece Hall, Mecole Hardman, Corey Davis, and Tyler Conklin haven’t had much practice time, it’s important for everyone to get on the same page at this time of training camp.
“We have to assimilate those guys into what we’re doing in short order. And we will,” Rodgers said. “But like today, it was good to see Mecole get some opportunities, ‘Conk’ had a nice pass-catch on a pressure alert.
“There’s a ton of guys who are going to play time for us that just aren’t a part of what we’re doing or weren’t in the spring. So, we’ve got to figure out a way to streamline things.”
The Jets have plenty of time to get on the same page, in large part because they’re starting practices early since they’ll be playing in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 3. While it’s highly unlikely Rodgers will suit up for that contest in Canton, the practice time from now through Week One is certainly valuable for players to get comfortable with the new scheme and quarterback.
