'Long time coming': Rodgers savors 1st Jets win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For the first time in 623 days, Aaron Rodgers walked off the field a winning quarterback.

It wasn’t a prolific game by any measure, but Rodgers was flawless on the winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, helping the New York Jets to a dramatic 24-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

Afterward, he savored everything about the win, from his heady playcalls that resulted in three touchdowns to his jawing with Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who called Rodgers “a crybaby” during the game.

“It was great,” the 40-year-old Rodgers said of the win, avoiding the first 0-2 start of his 20-year career. “It was a long time coming.

“These are kind of the games you look back on late in the season and you’re thankful you won these, because if we want to be a great team, we have to win in these type of environments against a team like that.”

Rodgers won Jan. 1, 2023, his next-to-last start with the Green Bay Packers. Technically, he was credited with the win in the Jets’ 2023 opener even though he lasted only four snaps before his left Achilles was ruptured. This was his first complete game victory with the Jets (1-1).

The four-time MVP was at his best in crunch time, leading a seven-play, 74-yard drive that ended with rookie running back Braelon Allen‘s second touchdown, a 20-yard run with 4:31 left in the game to make it 24-17. Rodgers was 5-for-5 for 60 yards on the drive, including 26- and 19-yard completions to Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams, respectively.

“He’s just like a conductor,” Allen said of Rodgers.

Tight end Tyler Conklin said, “Aaron did some Aaron stuff out there.”

After an ugly loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Jets were desperate for a win. Their defense, which lost defensive end Jermaine Johnson (Achilles) and linebacker C.J. Mosley (toe) in Sunday’s game, delivered a fourth-down stop in the final seconds to preserve the victory.

Afterward, Rodgers’ teammates and coach Robert Saleh cited his poise in the final minutes as one of the keys.

“I mean, he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and he’s had production for a very, very long time,” Saleh said. “He’s seen everything. To have a presence like that in the huddle, for a lot of guys who haven’t seen everything, it’s big.”

Rodgers (18-for-30) passed for only 176 yards, his 24th straight game under 300 yards — the longest drought of his career. But he threw a pair of touchdowns, a 12-yard screen pass to Allen and a 26-yard pass to Breece Hall. It was the first time since 1994 that two different Jets running backs had scoring receptions in the same game.

On the Allen touchdown, Rodgers said he suggested the call to offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett on the sideline — a pump fake to Hall, then a quick throw to Allen. The misdirection worked perfectly.

Rodgers said he and Hall cooked up the latter score.

“I’ll tell you exactly how it evolved,” Rodgers said. “I screwed up the clock and we called the timeout. Breece comes over and goes, ‘Hey, throw me a go ball if there’s a ‘backer out there. I said, ‘OK.'”

Hall split wide to the right and was covered by linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr., which Rodgers recognized and made the Titans pay.

“You know you’re going to win the game” with Rodgers, said Allen, 20, who became the youngest player to score an offensive touchdown since 1950. “I haven’t been around him for a long time, but I’ve watched him for a really long time. There’s nobody better in those situations over the past two decades.”

Allen grew up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, watching Rodgers with the Packers, so it was quite a moment for him to score the winning touchdown in Rodgers’ first win as a Jets quarterback. Allen deflected the praise, saying the hole was so big on his 20-yard run that “my nana could probably score on that one.” A pass play was called, but Rodgers said he checked to a run at the line.

Rodgers capped the day by enjoying a few laughs with Simmons, who had a costly roughing-the-passer penalty.

“He was calling me some mean names out there,” Rodgers said with a laugh, adding that he returned fire with a “crybaby” comment to Simmons after the penalty.