Jets not taking any chances with Aaron Rodgers this preseason

You have a better chance of seeing me play in an NFL preseason game this summer than Aaron Rodgers. I may be on the good side of 40, but I am hellaciously out of shape. As for the franchise quarterback of the New York Jets, he is not about to play another second of a game that doesn't count for the rest of his career. This is because he is too precious of a commodity to go to waste.

After seeing him tear his Achilles in Week 1 of last season, the Jets are not going to take any chances. Surely, Rodgers is more than fine to play in a meaningless exhibition game sometime in August, but why risk it? The only thing that matters for the Jets this season is to make the playoffs. Should Rodgers go down again at any point, they aren't making the playoffs, and everyone gets fired.

Even though Joe Douglas has done a great job for the most part as a first-time general manager with the Jets, going 0-for-2 on quarterbacks would be a front-office death sentence for him. He whiffed horrifically on drafting Zach Wilson No. 2 overall out of BYU in the 2021 NFL Draft. He then gave up the farm to trade for Rodgers from Green Bay, he did not even play four quarters in a game last year.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh let it be known that Rodgers is not going to play at all during the preseason.

Not only is Douglas' job riding on this, you can argue Saleh faces more pressure.

New York Jets will not let Aaron Rodgers play in any preseason games

I completely agree with this decision by Saleh and the rest of the Jets brass on not playing Rodgers. For as much as I have detracted from the Jets throughout my entire writing career, I am willing to give this year's team a chance. I am still trying to feel out which 14 teams I think will be making the postseason. In the early runs through it, I have a hard time leaving the Jets out over in the deep AFC.

This may only be a wild card team, but there is a chance Gang Green could be better than the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. Unfortunately, if Rodgers gets hurt, I am not ruling out a last-place finish for this team. Rodgers is the straw that stirs the drink for this team offensively. If he goes down for any extended stretch, or is more washed than Russell Wilson was in Denver, this can be a nightmare.

Overall, I would be a hypocrite if I said holding Rodgers out was overly cautious and a bad idea for the Jets to be making this offseason. Just because I have never had any good reason to trust this team doesn't mean they are incapable of doing things the right way on occasion. I mean, Mark Sanchez has won more playoff games than the guy leading my team. These Jets could be as good as those teams.

All I know is this team is facing an absurd amount of pressure for their standards, which is not ideal.