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Colin Cowherd: Aaron Rodgers Is Not a Savior

A bad Jets loss in Week 1 needs further inspection.

Kyle Koster

Rodgers had a rough go of it in Week 1.
Rodgers had a rough go of it in Week 1. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
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Aaron Rodgers was serviceable in the New York Jets' Monday night loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which was nowhere near enough for Gang Green as they failed to contend. The much-anticipated return is only one game but it's reasonable to conclude that one of the best quarterbacks ever is now playing the game differently.

Rodgers was less mobile than the version of himself that extended plays and made deep playoff runs year after year in Green Bay. Something that was not lost on Colin Cowherd, who weighed in on the situation during his show Tuesday.

"So this Aaron Rodgers is 40, off an Achilles surgery," Cowherd said. "He is not mobile. He doesn't leave a 3-4 foot radius. He is closer to Kirk Cousins than Patrick Mahomes athletically right now. He has a below-average offensive coordinator. They have no tight end production at all. He's prickly and they have one elite receiver, cross your fingers he's never hurt. But the rolling, mobile, athletic Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, that's over."

"The structure around him is so weak," Cowherd continued. "You have a defensive head coach who looked overmatched last night. You have an offensive coordinator who's completely over his head. You have a so-so offensive line that appears to be OK. And again, one great wide receiver. The Jets brought in Aaron to be the savior but that's not his personality. He wasn't a savior in Green Bay. What was he saving?"

It's been stunning to see a significant 180 from the media on what this Jets team is going to be based on 60 minutes. On the other hand, maybe that makes all the sense in the world since it feels constructed specifically to garner the widest range of takes imaginable.

The pop philosophy about Rodgers being aloof so he can't put everyone on his shoulders and reach the promised land may be correct. But the bigger issue, it seems, is the actual on-field play. And not being particularly capable of creating things off-schedule or amid the chaos is a major problem. What that type of quarterback looks like against a defense that doesn't have 49ers on its chest will be interesting to see.

So maybe it's not necessarily time to panic. It could be time to recalibrate expectations—at least when it comes to Rodgers.

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Kyle Koster

KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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