In an unsurprising move, the New York Jets will not play their starters in their last preseason game.
Head coach Robert Saleh announced the move during his media availability on Thursday. Aaron Rodgers, Tyron Smith, Garrett Wilson, and the rest of the starters will now focus on preparing for the beginning of the 2024 regular season.
Aaron Rodgers (and most of the #Jets key players) will not be playing in the preseason finale against the Giants, per Robert Saleh.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) August 22, 2024
When asked about his decision, Saleh referenced the amount of reps the starters have gotten during training camp practices.
“I feel like we have gotten so much work done, so much good work done with three quality opponents over the course of three weeks. Last year, we didn’t scrimmage with the Giants. This year, we had three different scrimmages. I feel like the amount of work we got in has been very productive.”
This was the smart decision for New York. Rodgers and the rest of the starters had a great showing against the Giants on Wednesday and have had competitive battles with each other for most of the summer. As Rodgers mentioned earlier in the week, the Jets have run way more plays and had way more reps than last year. 2024 has been a high-tempo and grueling camp for New York.
With this in mind, pushing the envelope in the preseason game makes no sense.
The Jets need to be as healthy as possible heading into the regular season, and risking injury in a meaningless game would be unwise. Furthermore, the quality of reps would be much worse; the offense and defense would likely see vanilla looks that would not help them in the regular season.
Letting the roster’s depth play the last preseason game and battle for spots is the correct move. The Jets need to start 2024 strong and healthy, and sitting their starters on Saturday is the best option for New York to do so.
