New York Jets Aaron Rodgers Named Candidate for End of Season Award

The New York Jets star is going to be in the running for an award at the end of the season.

East Rutherford, NJ -- September 29 -- Aaron Rodgers of the Jets ns the ball in the first half as the Denver Broncos edged the New York Jets 10-9 at MetLife Stadium. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The New York Jets have reached the quarter point of the 2024 season and the results have been very mixed.

With a 2-2 record, things have been a roller coaster ride to this point. A 32-19 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers started as a low point, but they trended in the right direction with victories over the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots.

The positive momentum was halted and the team nosedived in Week 4 in an embarrassing loss to the Denver Broncos.

A lot went wrong, with head coach Robert Saleh getting called out for several reasons. The team not being able to capitalize on advantages and in-game decision-making were at the forefront.

As were comments Saleh made about the cadence quarterback Aaron Rodgers is using.

Pre-snap penalties have occurred too often, and Saleh believed that had something to do with it. He walked those comments back a little bit, but it talks to the disconnect there currently is between the future Hall of Famer, his coach and his teammates.

Having Rodgers under center was supposed to improve the Jets’ performance, catapulting the offense near the top of the league. There have been some flashes of his formerly dominant self, but not enough to ease all the concerns surrounding the team.

Despite some underwhelming performances, the veteran quarterback is still in the running for some end-of-season awards. In his rankings through four games, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has Rodgers as No. 3 in his race for the Comeback Player of the Year Award.

“It has been an up-and-down start to the season for Rodgers, who struggled through an ugly loss to the Broncos and battled coach Robert Saleh over his penchant for inspiring free plays (and false starts) with his cadence.

Physically, Rodgers' arm looks sound, and his interception rate is unsurprisingly low, but he has posted a completion percentage over expected (CPOE) of minus-4.4% and is averaging just 6.6 yards per attempt, both of which come in below average,” the NFL expert wrote.

Expectations were likely too high coming into 2024 given the circumstances. It has been two years since he played and in 2022 with the Green Bay Packers, he didn’t perform at too high of a level.

But, staying on the field at his age, coming off the injury he suffered in 2023 is an accomplishment in itself. In terms of remaining in contention for the award, Rodgers will be in the running all season as long as he stays healthy.

Alas, just being on the field isn’t going to be enough to turn the team into a legitimate contender. There is a lot of work to do for everyone to get on the same page.