NFL News

[Cody_Russell]

Is anyone else getting Quintrica vibes from current brain trust in AZ.

The Simmons trade reminded me of Diggs

A little.

1. Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort is a former Patriots front office guy like Bob Quinn.
2. Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon was under fire by a loud section of Eagles fans that wanted him fired. More so from the 2021 season. Gannon’s defense shit the bed in the Super Bowl. Some Matt Patricia similarities here.

Cardinals will certainly be terrible in year 1 of this regime’s rebuild. Top 3 draft choice + a top 10 draft choice from Houston. Interesting to see what they do with a STACKED 2024 draft class. The opportunity will be there to add elite talent.

[Iron Lion]

A little.

1. Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort is a former Patriots front office guy like Bob Quinn.
2. Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon was under fire by a loud section of Eagles fans that wanted him fired. More so from the 2021 season. Gannon’s defense shit the bed in the Super Bowl. Some Matt Patricia similarities here.

Cardinals will certainly be terrible in year 1 of this regime’s rebuild. Top 3 draft choice + a top 10 draft choice from Houston. Interesting to see what they do with a STACKED 2024 draft class. The opportunity will be there to add elite talent.

Did the Philly defense really shit the bed though? KC scored 38 points: 5 TD and 1 FG.

1 of those TDs was a KC defensive score. So really 31 points.

1 of those TDs was off of a punt return that set up 1st & goal. So at most the Philly D is responsible for 4 of those 7 points. So really 27 points now.

Pretty sure Mahomes averages 27 points per game.


I'm not saying Gannon is a good D coordinator. He sure as shit isn't looking like a good HC, although to be fair he inherited a shit show and his team hasn't played yet. But I don't see an argument that he shit the bed in the Super Bowl.

[Cody_Russell]

Fair points. Ultimately, it’s not as terrible as Matt Patricia’s defense vs Nick Foles in the Super Bowl.
I just recall hearing Eagles fans consistently complain about Gannon and that surprised me considering their 2022 season performance. Giving credit to the talent on that defense instead of the coaching. Then again, Eagles fans might always try to find something to complain about.

A little Quinntricia vibes, but not exact IMO. I would like to reconsider their situation next year after they have more time to work with the roster. Again, Cardinals COULD end up with Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr. in 8 months. Totally different situation if so. The Kyler decision will be something to watch too…

[TheLondonLion]

Nah I think they're trying to tank while Patricia was trying to push us over the top to post-season success. He was trying to press forward and he inadvertenly tanked cos he's terrible.

I wouldn't be surprised if they broom Gannon out in a year for some college hotshot coordinator.

[jaadam4]

If anyone has trouble sleeping, listen to AZ HC Jonathan Gannon give a motivational speech.

https://youtu.be/BI_WFSOe8r0?si=rKRFiEMBa-glJ9sj

He's trying to be something he's not. He's trying to be MCDC.

[Iron Lion]

He's trying to be something he's not. He's trying to be MCDC.

Josh McDaniels and Dennis Allen are my two absolute least liked active HCs. Or they were. Now they are 2A and 2B.

[jaadam4]

Josh McDaniels and Dennis Allen are my two absolute least liked active HCs. Or they were. Now they are 2A and 2B.

Thank goodness Patricia won't ever be a HC again or he'd be at the f'ing top of that list.

[Iron Lion]

Thank goodness Patricia won't ever be a HC again or he'd be at the f'ing top of that list.

If Gannon wants to look like MCDC, he just needs to hire Patricia as his wingman.

[whatever_gong82]

David Bakhtiari ‘baffled’ by Jawaan Taylor’s alignment: ‘I can’t defend that’

By Kalyn Kahler
Sep 10, 2023





CHICAGO — When Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor became the center of attention Thursday night for his early get-off at the snap, and his weirdly and seemingly illegal deep alignment, David Bakhtiari’s X notifications went off.

Fans mentioned the Green Bay Packers left tackle in a bunch of tweets complaining about Taylor not getting called for false starts in a 21-20 loss to the Detroit Lions. That’s because Bakhtiari has carefully crafted over 11 seasons his own perfectly timed get-off, which opponents and critics might say should be considered a false start.

“I have had people complain about it for a long time,” he said Sunday, after the Packers beat the Bears 38-20 at Soldier Field.

Bakhtiari has watched the film of Taylor’s performance and he doesn’t think Taylor’s early jump was the real issue.



“I sent all my buddies a group text and I said, I don’t care about his get-off,” Bakhtiari said. “There were a lot legal, some of them I would say they didn’t get called, but that is the fringe, the gray area. I can live with that. His alignment was — I was baffled.

“I just remember looking at that and thinking, dude, what? You have to break the center’s belt,” Bakhtiari continued. “Hence why, from my stance, my foot is super far back, so it makes me look super far back in general, but that’s why I always lean my head super far forward. If he wants to be that far back, you have to lean your head forward and break the center’s belt.”



Bakhtiari said officials gave Packers right tackle Zach Tom a warning Sunday that he needed to move up in his alignment. Bakhtiari said he’s been warned about his alignment two or three times in his career, and never been penalized for it.

“I have to get lined up from (left guard) Elgton (Jenkins),” Bakhtiari said. “Elgton is like how he is in team meetings. He can’t pick a chair and sit in there, so he’s always constantly moving. With his alignment, he is all over the place. It’s his fifth year. I’m like, dude! Sometimes he is too far back and I line up off of him, so I say (to the officials), just let me know.”


Bakhtiari pointed out that when it comes to a false start, the rulebook says players can move with the movement of the football. The ball doesn’t have to leave the center’s hands, it just has to move.



“Part of being a good player is getting off the ball, especially as an offensive lineman,” he said. “Defensive linemen, they can move a full step, they just have to not be in the neutral zone. It’s just noise, hearing other defensive linemen complain about it. You are in a sprinter stance and you run a 4.4 and you are really complaining about a fat dude who can barely break five flat backpedaling? Get the f— out of here.”

When the officials warned Tom, Bakhtiari said he told them to continue to let him know. “I am not trying to cheat,” he said. “I am going to try to take every possible inch I can.”



And that’s why he’s bothered by what he saw as Taylor’s blatantly illegal formation in Kansas City.

“He definitely was getting the franchise QB treatment, and yeah, you have to fix that,” Bakhtiari said.“That’s not cool and you are abusing a good thing. I can only defend linemen so much. I can’t defend that.”


Kalyn Kahler is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the NFL. She previously worked as a staff writer for Defector and at Sports Illustrated, where she worked her way up from editorial assistant and personal assistant to Peter King. She is a graduate of Northwestern University.

[jaadam4]

I wonder if the JETS make a play for Stafford. They now have a first round pick. Honestly it would be the right move. The Rams aren’t going anywhere.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

For starters....I don't know how the jets could possibly pull that off from a cap perspective

[Cody_Russell]

Can they add voided years for all of their huge cap hits this season? No idea how it could work.

I would imagine they just sign Wentz or something.

Zach Wilson could be a little better than before given maturity, but can’t say this with any confidence. Wilson was terrible last season.

I wonder if the JETS make a play for Stafford. They now have a first round pick. Honestly it would be the right move. The Rams aren’t going anywhere.

I saw Jets fans suggesting this too lol. They can dream about it…

[whatever_gong82]

Aaron Rodgers feared to have Achilles injury; Zach Wilson to start for Jets if confirmed, coach says


By Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini

Sep 11, 2023


New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is feared to have suffered an Achilles injury in the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills on “Monday Night Football,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. The team is expecting an MRI to confirm the injury Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

Rodgers was injured after taking a sack from Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd on New York’s first drive of the game. The team said the injury was to Rodgers’ left ankle and later ruled him out.

He limped off the field with help from trainers and was sent for X-rays, which were negative. Rodgers left the X-ray room on a cart after six minutes, wearing a walking boot on his left foot.

Rodgers was replaced by Zach Wilson, the Jets’ first-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft and former starter.

Saleh said Rodgers’ injury is “not good” after the team’s 22-16 overtime win, and that Wilson will be the starter for the rest of the season if Rodgers is out. “I hurt for Aaron and all that he’s invested in this,” Saleh added.



The Athletic’s instant analysis:

What’s next for Jets?

If all went according to plan, the Jets wouldn’t have had to play Wilson at all this season. Instead, he was forced into action in the first quarter of Week 1. Suffice to say the Jets will be in a tough spot — especially with a challenging schedule to start the season. The Jets have the Cowboys, Patriots, Chiefs, Broncos and Eagles coming up before their bye.

Ultimately, the injury coming because of a breakdown in pass protection is an indictment on the Jets’ offensive line — which was a concern the team had all offseason and often tried to explain away as offseason rust and not a cause for concern. Spoiler alert: it’s a concern. — Rosenblatt




Backstory

The Jets acquired Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers in late April, trading their No. 13 pick this year, a second-round pick, a sixth-round pick and a conditional 2024 second-round pick that becomes a first if Rodgers were to play at least 65 percent of the snaps in 2023.

The parties agreed to a reworked contract in July. Rodgers’ new deal is for two years and worth $75 million guaranteed through the 2024 season.

[whatever_gong82]

Aaron Rodgers goes down with injury, likely taking the Jets’ dreams with him


By Zack Rosenblatt

Sept 12, 2023




EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers sat at the middle of a large table in a conference room at the New York Jets facility recently, and leaned back in a chair, the practice fields behind him.

A reporter told him: This is like déjà vu. Fifteen years ago, Brett Favre, Rodgers’ predecessor in Green Bay, sat at this table and spoke to a group of reporters, previewing the 2008 season, which ended terribly after a promising start.

Rodgers smiled.

“I hope that’s the only thing that’s déjà vu,” he said.



Then, for 35 minutes, Rodgers raved about his new life with the Jets after 18 years with the Packers. “It has felt like waking up inside of a dream,” he said. “A beautiful dream.”

And then, on Monday night, he woke up.


He is a Jet, after all, where hope springs eternal — until it dies. Sometime, months from now, Jets fans, players and coaches will look back at August and feel that way, too, that it was all a dream. It never got better than that.


Rodgers lasted only four plays, and one pass, in the Jets’ Week 1 game before succumbing to the Buffalo Bills pass rush. His left ankle twisted. He stood up, looked to the sideline, shook his head side-to-side.



Nope.

He limped to the sideline, and later into the tunnel. At 8:09 p.m., he ran out of that tunnel, wielding the American flag, and MetLife Stadium rumbled.

By 8:25, he was on the ground.



“It’s not good,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said after the game. He said the team believes Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury, and if it’s ruptured, the quarterback’s season is over. An MRI is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Jets won without Rodgers, somehow, a remarkable 22-16 victory in overtime against a Bills team that fancies itself a Super Bowl contender. It’s a win worth celebrating, and the Jets did in the locker room. There was not a somber tone, but an optimistic one.



This is a team with an elite defense, after all, which forced four turnovers on quarterback Josh Allen, and sacked him five times. Running back Breece Hall ran for 127 yards on 10 carries in his first game back after tearing his ACL last year. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson made a remarkable catch for a touchdown on a 3-yard pass from Zach Wilson, tightly covered, bobbled and then tipped to himself. Undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson won the game on a zig-zagging, 65-yard punt return touchdown.



This is a Jets team with a Super Bowl-caliber roster. Unfortunately, it just lost its Super Bowl quarterback.

“Just seeing how he responded to getting up, seeing him limp off the field, you could tell it wasn’t anything good,” said wide receiver Allen Lazard, Rodgers’ close friend from five years playing together with the Packers. “It’s almost comical with how this offseason played and for him to go down in the first game, without even completing a pass.”

“It’s just something you hate to see as a competitor, just knowing all we put into this,” Garrett Wilson said. “To see him go down in this first game so quickly, it sucks, man. I’m going to keep him in my prayers. It sucks.”



Rodgers was in the locker room at halftime, but he didn’t say anything. Garrett Wilson told him that he loved him. Lazard didn’t get to talk to him.

Wide receiver Randall Cobb, one of Rodgers’ closest friends, asked to end his interview after the game early so he could go check on the quarterback.



“You never want to lose your guy,” Cobb said. “I hate to see him go down. I really just want to get out of here so I can call him and talk to him and check on him.”

Left tackle Duane Brown gave up the sack to Leonard Floyd on the play where Rodgers was injured. Teammates, and coaches, assured Brown that it wasn’t his fault. That didn’t make it any easier.

“Yeah,” Brown said, on the verge of tears. “It sucks.”



Rodgers turns 40 in December. Assuming he does have an Achilles injury, it’s fair to wonder how motivated he’ll be to fight his way back onto the field after his recovery. By Rodgers’ own admission, he was seriously considering retirement as recently as January. But that’s a conversation for another day.



For now, the Jets have to live in this reality, where Zach Wilson is their starting quarterback again. A year ago, Wilson was benched multiple times, the last for a practice-squad quarterback (Chris Streveler) during a late-season game with playoff implications. Wide receivers privately (and sometimes, publicly) grumbled about him. If Wilson didn’t struggle so much, the Jets wouldn’t have brought Rodgers in at all.

This offseason, the Jets started from square one with Wilson. Rodgers made him his apprentice. Wilson was having fun again, he said. But if all went right this season, Wilson would’ve never seen the field, let alone in Week 1. Now he’s the Jets’ starter, Saleh said.




Wilson completed 14 of 21 passes for 140 yards, one touchdown and one interception on Monday. It was enough, even if it was bumpy. The Jets’ ceiling is capped with him at quarterback. There was no ceiling with Rodgers.

“I thought he was awesome,” Saleh said of Wilson. “We still have a lot of faith in him. I think we have proven that by keeping him here and continuing to invest in him. I am excited for him and his opportunity.”



Garrett Wilson said: “We’re excited to get to work, me and Zach.”

Running back Dalvin Cook, who signed with the Jets largely because of Rodgers, said: “I believe in him, man. He comes in the huddle, he’s confident as he can be. We gotta be better around him to help him better.”

Whatever happens now, it will always be what could’ve been.



“This is the game of football, this is the game of life. At the end of the day, you have to keep persevering, keep pushing through,” Lazard said. “We’re going to rally behind him regardless of when he’s going to be back. We’re going to support him. We’re going to love him.”

Before the game, the Jets’ three captains — C.J. Mosley, Justin Hardee and Rodgers — took the field for the coin toss. And there was an honorary captain: former Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde.



In 1999, the Jets, with a 36-year-old Testaverde, felt like they were Super Bowl contenders. In the first game, against the Patriots, Testaverde ruptured his Achilles, and his season ended.

Déjà vu, indeed.




Zack Rosenblatt is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New York Jets. Before joining The Athletic, he worked as a staff writer for The Star-Ledger, where he covered the Eagles and Giants. He also covered the Arizona Wildcats for the Arizona Daily Star. He's a graduate of the University of Arizona and is originally from Cherry Hill, N.J. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackBlatt

[whatever_gong82]

MetLife Stadium turf: What Jets, Bills had to say after Aaron Rodgers’ injury



By The Athletic NFL Staff




The New York Jets’ trade for Aaron Rodgers this spring meant many things, including that he would be playing 14 games on artificial turf, a significant increase from the four he had with the Green Bay Packers in 2022.

“Huge difference for a guy who turns 40 in December and has had some lower-leg injuries, including calf strains,” an NFL team exec told The Athletic this summer.

But it’s unclear what role, if any, the MetLife Stadium turf had in the injury that knocked him out of the Jets’ “Monday Night Football” season-opening win and possibly much longer.

Jets coach Robert Saleh said after the game the team fears Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury. The quarterback is scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday.


In only four snaps, Rodgers faced instant pressure from a struggling Jets offensive line, and he went down awkwardly on a sack by Bills linebacker Leonard Floyd. But speculation about the turf, which was replaced this year, fired up the moment Rodgers was helped off the field. NFL players have been vocal in their concern about and disdain for artificial turf.

What did some of the other players who played Monday on MetLife’s new FieldTurf Core surface think? We asked them.



Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins: “I did mention on the field that it felt way better. I don’t know what they did, but it felt way better. The turf feels a lot better because the (old) turf was horrible. But it feels good.”



Jets wide receiver and longtime Rodgers teammate Randall Cobb: “We wanted the NFL to protect the players with grass fields, but the NFL is more worried about making money. Profit over people, it’s always been the case. I’ve never been a fan of turf. That’s my stance.”

Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley: “For me, the new turf is a lot softer, which I feel in the legs and knees. Like, my legs right now feel a lot better than on the turf last year. So then you feel like maybe it’s improved, but at the end of the day, grass has always been the best.”



Jets running back Breece Hall: “Grass. That’s my answer. We want grass.”




Jets running back Dalvin Cook: “I played on turf in Minnesota so I know it. I didn’t think it was bad here. It was just wet. I slipped a little bit at first. I didn’t think it was that bad. No complaints from me.”

Jets cornerback D.J. Reed: “It definitely feels better. It’s a lot of beads, so it gets in your cleats. So you got to kind of shake it out, but it’s definitely softer than last year. Playing last year it was definitely harder, so I can see it being more pressure on your knees (then).”



Jets edge rusher Jermaine Johnson: “I’m not a fan of turf at all. It’s just hard on athletes. I love grass. … I played in the South pretty much my whole collegiate career, so the grass is very forgiving. Your strides, anything accidental, the grass will give. Turf doesn’t give, so it just goes back into your body and bad things happen. So I’m not a big fan of the turf, period.”