Aaron Rodgers reached the lowest point of his New York Jets career when he willingly asked to come off during the week 17 fixture against the Buffalo Bills. The veteran quarterback realized it wasn’t his day after throwing multiple interceptions in the first three quarters.
The Jets were trailing 12-0 when Rodgers threw his second interception straight to the Bills cornerback Christian Benford. And the very next drive, quarterback Josh Allen threw a brilliant back-shoulder touchdown pass to Amari Cooper, extending the Bills’ lead to 19.
After further conceding 14 unanswered points at the beginning of the fourth quarter from a Mitch Trubisky 69-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Shavers, Rodgers basically decided it wasn’t his day, and a fresh perspective was required. The Jets benched him and sent on Tyrod Taylor for the remainder of the game.
However, the 41-year-old confided that he asked to be replaced rather than Jets benching him.
To rub salt in Rodgers’ wounds, Taylor, in the very next drive, threw a touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson, which was his first reception inside the red zone since week 14. Although the Bills extended their lead to 40 points, Taylor threw his second touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Conklin with two minutes left until the final whistle.
Rodgers’ honesty didn’t sit well with the fans on social media. According to them, he ditched the Jets after ruining the game for them.
Rodgers ended the day with 12 completions for 112 yards and two picks while Taylor had 11 completions from 14 for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns. Despite the embarrassing defeat, acting head coach Jeff Ulbrich did not rule out Rodgers starting the final game against the Miami Dolphins, according to The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt.
Moreover, Rodgers hasn’t been too bad this year either. Even after recovering from an ACL injury and dropping to 4-12 with the week 17 loss, he has 3623 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 16 games. Before the two picks against the Bills, he threw 14 touchdowns and just 1 interception in the Jets last 8 fixtures.
Rodgers has ambitions of staying with the Jets beyond the 2024 season, but that call depends on the owners. Moreover, they have to pay both Wilson and CB Sauce Gardner, and both have been upset with the 4x NFL MVP at times this year. So if they have to move someone on, then it will more than likely be Rodgers.