Jets vs. 'That player': Aaron Glenn's pointed silence of Aaron Rodgers speaks volumes
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn during a preseason game against the Eagles on Aug. 22 at MetLife Stadium. Credit: Errol Anderson
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Aaron Glenn didn’t say the name.
It took some verbal contortions to do so, and at times he referred to the opposing quarterback in Sunday’s opener as “this guy” or “that player.” And he certainly spoke of him when he felt like doing so, which wasn’t all the time despite many questions that were directly about “that player.” But at Tuesday’s news conference to kick off his first game week as head coach of the Jets, two words that loom so largely over this contest did not pass through Glenn’s lips.
He said neither Aaron nor Rodgers.
Fascinating. On so many levels. Because of course it was Glenn who, in one of his first big decisions on the job this past winter, informed Rodgers that his services were no longer needed here with the Jets. And it was Glenn who allowed Rodgers to parse the details of that final meeting publicly without commenting on any of the allegations made against him or the organization.
Oh, Glenn took a little dig where he could on Tuesday. In the middle of his praise regarding Rodgers’ football acumen as something that only continues to improve and evolve he dropped this little barely-noticed line: “Physically we all start to wane at some point as we get older.”
Ouch.
And now that Rodgers is returning to New Jersey for this game – coming this time on the Steelers’ team plane rather than on his “own dime” as he pointedly described his cross-country private jet fare the last time he visited – Glenn has once again gone mostly mum.
Come to think of it, Glenn never did provide a satisfactory answer regarding why he and the Jets made the call that they did so many months ago. Not that we needed one after living through the Age of Rodgers. We all know why Rodgers isn’t here any longer. There can only be one Aaron in charge of the Jets.
But just because He Who Shall Not Be Named hasn’t been doesn’t mean Glenn is ignoring Rodgers or his history with the Jets completely. On the contrary. He actually seems to be counting on the experiences his defense had practicing against the future Hall of Famer for most of the last two seasons as an advantage come Sunday.
“I do think there is some value to our guys of being able to be a part of that,” Glenn said. “And here’s what I do know also: Those guys had a really good relationship and he has talked to them about football in general. Those guys really took that in and they have grown from all of those things. There is value to being on a team with a player like that and I know he helped those guys a lot.”
That is true. Rodgers had close bonds with many of the defensive players. It was Sauce Gardner who helped recruit Rodgers to come here in the beginning with the ceremonial burning of the cheesehead hat he had donned after beating Rodgers in Green Bay as a rookie.
“It was a great experience being able to pick his brain and everything like that,” Gardner said of his two seasons as Rodgers’ teammate. “He’s spent a lot of time in the league and experienced a lot of things. It was a great time.”
But if there is one lesson the Jets learned during that time it is never try to anticipate what Rodgers is thinking. Such pursuits only lead to chaos and confusion from a player who has made a career of zigging against the expected zags the game of football – and other avocations – deem appropriate.
So as they start to gear up in earnest for this opening day meeting against their former quarterback, the Jets’ defense finds itself in a strange position. Do they rely on all the intel they were inadvertently gathering on Rodgers’ tendencies and techniques during those hundreds of practices, walk-throughs, OTAs and training camp workouts they spent going against each other? Or do they erase those would-be tells from their mind knowing that Rodgers knows what the Jets know about him and he is likely to change that up anyway?
“I’m just focused on us,” Gardner said on Tuesday after practice. “I’m just preparing like any other game. A lot could have changed since he was last here. I’m not just going to go based off what I know or anything like that.”
Inside linebacker Jamien Sherwood, the player who will be eye-to-eye with Rodgers as they chessboard the line of scrimmage on Sunday, said he, too, isn’t relying on any preconceptions.
“We’re not going to know every answer,” Sherwood said. “When we go out there, there are going to be some unscouted looks. I feel that’s what makes NFL defenses and NFL players special. Just read and react. Whatever the offense gives you, at the end of the day they are going to tell you a story. The down and distance, the formations, the personnel they are in, it all speaks to you. It is your job to write that into your own story and go out and make plays.”
Adding to the intrigue is that there is no telling how Rodgers will handle this situation, not because of his caginess or cunning but because it is unique for him. It’s often said that in his 22 years in the league Rodgers has seen everything. Well, he’s never seen this before. He’s never faced a former team of his.
Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor is in a position to expound on this cat-or-mouse debate. He was a teammate of Rodgers’ last year so knows him well and in his 15-year career has faced former teams plenty of times. So when such games come around, does the defense or the quarterback have the advantage?
“Obviously there is some familiarity with Aaron from our defense’s perspective,” Taylor said. “But there is also a different cast of people for him, a different supporting cast on the offensive side of the ball, so I would say whoever can adjust throughout this game to the different wrinkles that both teams throw, they’ll get the bast chance to go out and have success.”
Added Jets safety Andre Cisco who was not here during Rodgers’ time in New York: “I don’t know if it gives us an advantage. You’d like t think so but gameday is such a different feel. We’ll be able to look back on it and say whether it was an advantage or not. Going into this week I think it’s better going in humble, just acting like we don’t know what we are going to get from him. It might be a lot different from what we’ve seen the last two years.”
In other words: We’ll see. That seemed to be the prevailing thinking.
If the Jets thought otherwise, just like the head coach when it came to this opposing starting quarterback, they simply weren’t saying.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
