The newest New York Jets narrative is the heated conversation between Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson
All is right around the New York Jets on Wednesday after a good practice for the offense.
But after back-to-back sloppy offensive days, another tiresome Aaron Rodgers narrative sprang up concerning a heated conversation he had with Garrett Wilson.
All the usual suspects came out to bash Rodgers and the Jets, including notorious Rodgers hater Colin Cowherd. Former Jets head coach Eric Mangini used the spat to take shots at Rodgers for missing mandatory minicamp. FOX Sports’ Craig Carton had a different take, saying it’s good for the Jets.
NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt agreed. He compared the Rodgers-Wilson spat to an incident in The Sopranos. Carmela Soprano bluntly told her husband that people laughed at his jokes only because they had to. Tony then told an idiotic joke to see who would laugh.
Aaron Rodgers ➡️ Tony Soprano pic.twitter.com/sYHfE30b3s
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) July 31, 2024
“I’ve learned over my life that people of great power and influence are not only interested, they’re almost craving people to stand up to them and talk back to them because no one does and they’re just surrounded by sycophants and enablers,” Brandt said. “I think they’re actually parched for someone to be like ‘I actually don’t like your idea and here’s why.'”
Brandt repeated a story from Davante Adams, who talked about a miscommunication between him and Rodgers that led to an incomplete pass. Adams came back to the huddle and told Rodgers to run the same play again. Rodgers did so and threw a touchdown to Adams.
Adams said that people don’t really talk that way to Rodgers — but that’s exactly what Rodgers needs. Brandt compared this incident to Wilson’s animated discussion with Rodgers: a passionate player talking back to Rodgers instead of being his yes-man.
As experienced and knowledgeable as Rodgers is, he doesn’t need a bunch of obsequious lackeys surrounding him. With his sky-high football IQ, he’s looking for players who can get on the same page as him. That sometimes means working out miscommunication and disagreeing about the best way to run a route.
When asked about Wilson’s candidness with him at this stage in his career, Rodgers weighed in similarly. “The best ones have always done that,” he said. “I love a good back-and-forth as long as at the end of it we can either agree to disagree and revisit it either or come to some sort of middle ground there. … It’s never just one conversation.”
Rodgers also commented on this conversation itself. “What it appears to be might not always be what the reality actually is as far as whether or not we’re upset with each other,” he remarked. “On the field, there’s a way of doing things that we both agree on, and when it doesn’t look exactly how we want it to sometimes there’s some side conversations that happen.
“I love those conversations… it’s about the details, it’s about winning, about seeing what he sees,” Rodgers added. “He’s got a whole book that I need to understand fully of skill set, and ability, and feel, and rhythm, and all the different things that he does out there.”
Another non-story surrounding the Jets has caused a brouhaha. Brandt’s take on the situation aligns with the truth. Nothing to see here, folks.
