Handling success hasn’t been an issue for the Jets for a long time, but quarterback Aaron Rodgers believes it will be this year.
The Jets have won two straight games and they had an impressive performance across the board in last Thursday’s win over the Patriots, which has helped make them favorites again for this Sunday’s game against the Broncos. Winning that game would leave the Jets in great shape after the first month of the season and Rodgers was asked on Wednesday if part of the growth process for the team is how well they handle prosperity.
“Yeah, just like I said, everyone’s going to start you-know-what’ing us a little bit,” Rodgers said, via a transcript from the team. “I go back to this quote a lot, but Mike McCarthy said ‘our biggest struggle is going to be handling success,’ back in 2016 in Green Bay, and there’s a lot to that. I think, you know, it’s easier when you’re kind of getting kicked in the teeth to kind of come together, ‘it’s us against the world, it’s us against the big bad media whose saying how bad we are,’ you know? We can kind of come together, but can you still come together and have the same approach when everybody’s kind of starting to sing your praises a little bit. I think that’s the mark of a great team, just can you handle the success part, with the same focus, the same mentality, the same mindset, the same energy, when you’re starting to get on a little bit of a roll.”
Rodgers has more experience handling prosperity than others in the locker room, so he’ll likely have a big role in making sure that any success the Jets are experiencing is sustainable through the end of the season.