He looked no different than the 39-year-old Aaron Rodgers.
The ball exploded out of his hand with a flick of the wrist and with his trademark accuracy. He backpedaled effortlessly. He coached up teammates on some of the finer details.
Center Joe Tippman even wrapped him in an embrace following a brief talk between them towards the end of OTA practice.
Forty-year-old Aaron Rodgers is back, and he is back with no doubts in his mind that he will be all the way back to who and what he was before the torn Achilles that ruptured his maiden Jets season after four “Monday Night Football” plays eight months of rehabilitation ago.
“You guys saw today, even if there were no pads on, that I can obviously still throw with the best of them. … I look forward to my confidence in my ability to move getting back to where it was last year.”
The word from Sauce Gardner: “He’s still the same guy.”
Flight ’24, back on the runway.
The word from defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich: “He’s got something figured out, whatever it is. I don’t see velocity off the ball, I don’t see lack of movement. He’s got the same personality that pisses you off during the week and then you love on Sundays.”
Aaron Rodgers, back as the Jets pilot.
The word from Robert Saleh: “He has no restrictions. The arm talent is obviously still there. It’s really just reacclimating to everything.”
Back again for that New York legacy he chases and craves.
Back to end the franchise’s 13-year playoff drought. Back to end the franchise’s 55-year-and-counting Super Bowl drought.
“There’s a lot of heat on all of us,” Rodgers said.
I asked him why it would include him, of all future first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterbacks.
“If I don’t do what I know I’m capable of doing, then we’re all probably gonna be out of here,” Rodgers said. “I like that kind of pressure though. It’s a tough market to play in, it’s not for everybody. I relish that opportunity. … As you get older in the league, if you don’t perform, they’re gonna get rid of you.”
Or draft a Jordan Love to replace you.
“It happened in Green Bay,” Rodgers said. “I’m a few years older than I was back then. I expect to play at a high level. I expect us to be productive and competitive, and all that stuff will take care of itself.”
He recalled confronting a hot seat not long after taking over for Brett Favre in Green Bay 2008.
“I felt like in 2008 if I wasn’t worth a s–t, they’d probably get rid of me,” he said.
He could have decided to be Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s VP, remember. Hell, he refers to his friend as Bobby. “There were really two options. It was retire and be his VP or keep playing, and I want to keep playing.”
Of course, the money would have been far less and he would have gone back on his much-ballyhooed decision to lead the Jets out of the wilderness of despair.
“We’re a little more under the radar this year with no ‘Hard Knocks,’ ” Rodgers said, “but we know that we gotta perform.”
I asked him if he was hungrier than he was a year ago.
“Oh I don’t know. … I was pretty damn hungry last year,” he said. “I’m enjoying this time. It’s been a very interesting eight, nine months. Hard grinding to get back.”
He is adept at finding whatever he can use to motivate himself, and when someone asked if he finds personal motivation trying to defy the odds that any 40-year-old quarterback back from a torn Achilles would face, Rodgers said with a smile: “More, now that you’ve mentioned that.”
“I don’t want to go out, as I said before, as a bum.”
He is too prideful to allow that to happen. “I think we’re ahead of where we were last year,” Rodgers said. “I think it’s time for the players to continue to take ownership of the locker room and the team.”
It was his team the moment he stepped into the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center and noticed how lonely the franchise’s lone Lombardi Trophy looked, and it is his team now.
He reiterated his belief that Garrett Wilson will be a star, and raved about his new blindside protector Tyron Smith — who will need to stay healthy for a change to keep Rodgers healthy.
“I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, he’s a Hall of Fame player,” Rodgers said. “He’s a big, strong man. Not a fat man.”
After further review, Nathaniel Hackett will remain the play-caller and offensive coordinator.
“It’s been an interesting couple of years for Nathaniel,” Rodgers said. “He’s a tough guy, but we’re all human. I’m guessing it wouldn’t be an easy situation to take that kind of critique over and over. … I applaud him the way that he handled some tough times last year. Obviously, I’m aware of the stories that are out there. But obviously there’s a lot of faith in him, with me and obviously with Robert.”
Hackett, constantly in search of the end zone, was exposed with Zach Wilson as his quarterback.
“It’s about building an offense that can weather the storm of injury,” Saleh said. “Last year we got caught behind the eight ball.”
Without No. 8, who made Hackett look more like Bill Walsh in Green Bay.
“Leader of our team,” Hackett said. “It’s fun to have him out there and watch him throw the ball around to those guys.”
Help for Hackett and hope for Hackett arrived in the offseason with better playmakers and protectors. Will Pat McAfee pal Rodgers honor his cry to help the Jets keep the B.S. out of the locker room?
“Once the season starts, it’s all about football,” Rodgers said.
The Jets don’t need Aaron Rodgers to be their VP. They need him to be their president. And he accepts the nomination.