NFL Rumors: Aaron Rodgers Benching Suggested By Jets’ Woody Johnson After Week 4 Loss

Andrew PetersNovember 20, 2024

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New York Jets owner Woody Johnson made a bold suggestion after the team’s 2-2 start to the season.

Per The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt and Diana Russini, he suggested benching quarterback Aaron Rodgers for Tyrod Taylor after a disastrous 10-9 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4. Johnson felt “Rodgers’ performance was holding the team back.”

New York ultimately opted not to bench the 40-year-old and has gone 1-6 in the games since.

According to Rosenblatt and Russini, the coaching staff and general manager Joe Douglas were “stunned” by the suggestion and talked him out of wanting to bench Rodgers. They believed that benching a future Hall of Famer like Rodgers so early in the season “would not sit well with the locker room” and the coaches thought it “would embarrass Rodgers.”

One coach even asked if the owner was serious in his suggestion.

Since Johnson’s suggestion, there have been plenty of changes in New York—none of which have involved Rodgers.

The Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh a week later after a loss to the Minnesota Vikings. On Monday, they parted ways with Douglas.

In terms of its roster, New York acquired star wide receiver Davante Adams—a staple of Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers days—from the Las Vegas Raiders and traded receiver Mike Williams to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Defensive end Haason Reddick ended his holdout and joined the team in late October.

All of those changes have resulted in little success for New York. The Jets are 3-8 on the year and have just one win since September. After they beat the Houston Texans two weeks ago, there seemed to be new life in New York, but back-to-back losses have proved otherwise.

Rodgers has 2,442 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions this year with a 51.0 quarterback rating.

SNY’s Connor Hughes reported Tuesday that Jets players have “checked out” and are “just ready for it to be over.” Hughes added that the team also “prefers to move on from Rodgers” after the season.

When the Jets built their roster around Rodgers, there was hope he could help them snap an ugly playoff drought and potentially lead them to the Super Bowl. Now halfway through his second season in New York, it seems the team is heading towards another rebuild.