Could there be trouble brewing between Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets?
The Jets recently activated Rodgers from the injured reserve list, but apparently, it was against Rodgers’ wishes.
Rodgers only wanted to return this season if New York had a chance of making the playoffs, but when the Jets activated the future Hall-of-Famer, the club had already been eliminated from postseason contention.
The 40-year-old is not going to play this season, which made the decision to activate him very peculiar to some media members, who proceeded to rip Rodgers for selfishness.
However, Rodgers made it very clear on The Pat McAfee Show that he did not want to return to the 53-man roster.
“I assumed I was gonna go on IR. I asked to be put on IR,” Rodgers said. “There was a conversation ‘do you want to practice,’ and I said ‘not at the expense of somebody getting cut.’ I know how this works. I didn’t feel like I needed to practice to continue my rehab. I could do on-the-field stuff on the side.”
Fullback Nick Bawden was cut to make room for Rodgers.
“But obviously I got overruled there; maybe it is what it is,” Rodgers continued. “That was an interesting situation. I called Nick right away and said, ‘I hope you know this isn’t coming from me. I asked them to put me on IR.’”
Whether or not this has any impact on the relationship between Rodgers and Jets brass moving forward remains to be seen, but the star quarterback clearly does not seem too enthralled with how he was portrayed throughout this process.
New York acquired Rodgers in a blockbuster trade with the Green Bay Packers last offseason. The Jets were immediately labeled Super Bowl contenders after the deal, but their championship hopes were dashed when Rodgers tore his Achilles on the team’s first offensive series of Week 1.
Aaron Rodgers is currently signed to a two-year deal and has repeatedly said he has every intention of returning and playing with Gang Green next season, so hopefully, this will all be water under the bridge for Rodgers and the Jets’ front office.
New York is 6-9 this season and will take on the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. The Jets will then wrap up the regular season by battling the New England Patriots on Jan. 7.
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