Jets Offseason Activities’ Official Start Date Exactly One Week Away

Voluntary three-phase program can begin next Monday with meetings and weight room work

Aaron Rodgers likely won't be there, but the New York Jets are scheduled to officially kick off their offseason program in exactly one week.

The voluntary nine-week program is allowed to begin on Monday, April 17 per a National Football League directive.

Fans shouldn’t expect to see social media clips resembling any type of competition this month. Only "meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation" can occur during the three-phase program's first two weeks (Phase 1).

Phase 2 permits an increase in player activity, but OTAs, or organized team practice activity, cannot happen until the final four weeks of the program (Phase 3).

The NFL defined the Phase 3 guidelines as such, “Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or ‘OTAs’. No live contact is permitted, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are permitted.”

Gang Green has OTAs scheduled for the 10 following dates: May 22-23, May 25, May 30-31, June 2, June 5-6, June 8-9.

With each NFL club permitted to hold a mandatory veteran minicamp during the final phase of the offseason program, the Jets will convene for three days starting June 13.

Meanwhile, Rodgers’ likely absence from the offseason program’s opening phases doesn't appear to concern Jets’ brass.

Despite the Packers and Jets needing to reach a trade agreement before Rodgers can join Gang Green, general manager Joe Douglas assured fans that the four-time NFL MVP is destined for Florham Park.

Douglas incited an eruption from the crowd while appearing as a special guest at the WFAN "Boomer and Gio Live" event on April 7. Responding to Boomer Esiason’s question about the Aaron Rodgers situation, the fifth-year general manager said, “He’s gonna be here.”

While speaking at the NFL Owners Meetings last month in Arizona, Jets’ head coach Robert Saleh hinted that the existing relationship between Rodgers and new offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett lessens the need for an early arrival.

Although he did not mention names, Saleh said,“if there’s a great rapport with the coordinator, there’s really no urgency.”

Rodgers, an 18-year NFL veteran, played three seasons (2019-2021) with Hackett as the offensive coordinator in Green Bay. The decorated signal caller passed for more than 4,000 yards in each of his three years executing Hackett’s scheme.

“Anybody who has been around Nathaniel Hackett knows that he brings a lot of energy, a lot of fun,” said Rodgers during his March 15 appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. “He’s an incredible teacher of the game, especially the quarterback position, and he’s a really good human being."

Rodgers won back-to-back NFL MVP awards (2020, 2021) with Hackett calling the plays, and the quarterback set career highs in completion percentage (70.7) and touchdown passes (48) during the 2020 campaign.

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