Dolphins Will See Rodgers After All

The veteran New York Jets quarterback is going through a miserable season

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws while pressured by Arizona Cardinals linebacker Baron Browning (53) during the first quarter at State Farm Stadium on Nov 10, 2024, in Glendale. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins will be getting their first matchup against Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets this weekend after all.

Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich confirmed it Monday morning when he squashed speculation that the future Hall of Famer could be benched by stating, "He's our quarterback. We have great belief in Aaron and we think he gives us the best opportunity to win.”

Aaron Rodgers will remain the Jets starting QB for this week’s game against the Dolphins.

Jeff Ulbrich says he believes Rodgers gives the Jets the “best opportunity to win.”

— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) December 2, 2024

That Ulbrich even had to say this tells you what kind of season it's been for the Jets — and for Rodgers, who continues to look nothing like the quarterback who won four MVP awards.

The latest mediocre performance came in the 26-21 loss against the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium when Rodgers was 21-for-39 for 185 yards with two touchdowns and one pick and a poor 73.1 passer rating.

Rodgers, who continues to have no issue with throwing teammates under the bus in his media sessions, was front and center on the wrong end of the biggest play of the game when he stared down Garrett Wilson on a slant and defensive lineman Leonard Williams in coverage picked him off and had a 92-yard pick-six to cut the Jets' lead to 21-13 — one play after Rodgers overthrew a wide open Wilson in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown that could have and should have made it 28-6.

For the season, Rodgers has a passer rating of 87.5, which would be the lowest of his career as a starter (not counting his one-quarter appearance in 2023).

The Jets also are 3-9, having clinched a ninth consecutive losing season — the longest active streak in the NFL.

Rodgers' status for 2025 also very much is in question, both when it comes to whether he wants to continue playing and whether the Jets want him back (though they really don't have much reason to want that).

So the idea was raised before and after the loss against Seattle that maybe it was time to bench Rodgers, which would put veteran backup Tyrod Taylor in the starting lineup.

The game at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday will be the first matchup between the teams this season, with the rematch coming in the regular season finale at MetLife Stadium on Saturday, January 4 or more likely Sunday, January 5.

The Dolphins missed Rodgers last season after he went down with an Achilles injury in the first quarter of the season opener, and instead faced (recent Dolphins practice squad member) Tim Boyle at MetLife Stadium on Black Friday — and who can forget Jevon Holland's pick-six on the "Fail Mary" — and then Zach Wilson in the rematch at Hard Rock Stadium a few weeks later.

For the Dolphins, facing him doesn't seem like a daunting task anymore until proven otherwise, and certainly nothing like trying to beat Josh Allen. In fact, they almost might be better off facing him than Taylor.

THE DOLPHINS AGAINST AARON RODGERS

The Dolphins have faced Rodgers four times since he entered the NFL as a first-round pick of the Green Bay Packers in the 2005 draft, and have a 1-3 record.

After Rodgers didn't play in the teams' meeting in 2006, the Dolphins won at Green Bay in 2010 (23-20 in overtime) before losing against the Packers in 2014, 2018 and most recently on Christmas Day 2022.

Rodgers has passed for 1,014 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions in his four games against Miami with a passer rating of 92.9 (far below his career passer rating of 102.8).

Taylor, meanwhile, has a 4-3 career record in seven starts against the Dolphins, six with the Buffalo Bills and one with the Houston Texans in 2021. He's got a career passer rating against Miami of 98.8, much higher than his overall career rating of 88.5.