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Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — This time, New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed a pass on his fourth snap of the season — a shovel to running back Breece Hall, who promptly fumbled.
It was that kind of season opener for Rodgers, whose highly anticipated comeback was spoiled by mistakes and poor performances on both sides of the ball in a 32-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night at Levi’s Stadium.
“They are a championship-level group — and I hope we see them then,” Rodgers said of the 49ers, ending his postgame news conference with a hint of optimism.
Rodgers, who tore his left Achilles on the fourth snap of the 2023 season opener, saw his first extensive action in 20 months. He became the 22nd quarterback in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to play after his 40th birthday. There were a few vintage moments for the four-time MVP, but he wasn’t pleased with his return performance.
“This is a tough opener for us, travel-wise and schedule-wise, but no excuses,” he said. “We have to play better and I have to play better and we’ll bounce back.”
Rodgers (13-for-21, 167 yards) said he “missed a couple of throws,” including an off-target pass to wide receiver Garrett Wilson that was deflected and intercepted by linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. His highlight was a 36-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Allen Lazard — a free play in which he burned the 49ers after they jumped offsides.
The star quarterback spent most of the night on the bench, watching his defense get shredded by the 49ers, who played without star running back Christian McCaffrey. The Jets gave up eight straight scoring drives, something they hadn’t done in at least 45 years, according to Elias Sports.
“We’ll get that s— fixed,” coach Robert Saleh said of the defensive breakdowns.
The Jets had the ball for only 21 minutes, 20 seconds, the lowest time of possession by a Rodgers-led team in any start of his career. This was Rodgers’ 225th career start. The game was so lopsided that Saleh, a former 49ers assistant, pulled Rodgers with 4:32 left in the fourth quarter.
Afterward, Rodgers lamented the inability to sustain drives, pointing to the team’s struggles on the ground. Hall was held to 54 yards on 16 carries; he also had a drop and the fumble on the shovel pass.
Physically, Rodgers said he felt “great,” adding, “yeah, it’s been a while. … A lot of gratitude just to be back in pads. So many people helped me get to this spot.”
There didn’t seem to be any major issues with his mobility, but he wasn’t really tested. He had no scrambles and only one dropback outside the pocket.
He was sacked once and was pressured on only five of 22 dropbacks, according to NextGen Stats. Interestingly, the sack was registered by Leonard Floyd, who sacked Rodgers on the play that ruptured his Achilles in last year’s opener.
On this night, Rodgers’ trademark accuracy wasn’t there on short passes. On passes of 10 yards of fewer, he completed only five of 12 for 46 yards and an interception (not counting designed screens). He finished the day with a 10.7% completion percentage below expectation, which is his worst mark since 2021 — the third of his four MVP seasons.
“We never really gave him a chance to get into a rhythm,” Saleh said of Rodgers.
Rodgers was victimized by a couple of big drops, including a third-down drop by Lazard on the first series. Hall said he apologized to Rodgers after the game, saying he hurt the team with his miscues.
“I told him I was sorry I didn’t play as well as I could have and up to my potential,” Hall said. “He was just like, ‘It’s going to be a long season, bro. I’m not worried about it. You’ll be fine.'”
Rodgers and none of the starters played in the preseason, which might have contributed to rust and timing issues on offense and defense. Wilson took umbrage with that, insisting their preparation in training camp was fine. Rodgers, too, said, “That’s an excuse. I’m not going to use that. I don’t think we should. We expect greatness when we step on the field.”
His teammates were just glad to have him back.
“It was awesome,” Wilson said. “It was great seeing him out there, hearing him in the huddle. We’re going to get better, but as far as seeing him out there and him being healthy, staying healthy throughout the whole game, it was a good feeling.”
