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The Jets’ highly-anticipated 2024 season opener is exactly a week away in what amounts to a mulligan for Aaron Rodgers.
Of course, Rodgers’ 2023 season, his first with the Jets, ended just four plays into the opener when his left Achilles gave out. That rupture effectively severed any hopes the Jets had of ending a 13-year drought without a playoff berth.
Now, as the 49ers and their top-tier defense await Rodgers and his fellow Jets starters having not played a down in the three preseason games, questions linger:
What does Rodgers have left?
Does he still have the form in him that won him two NFL MVP honors and a Super Bowl?
Or is he a 40-year-old star whose skills have diminished?
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There’s no player on the Jets roster more qualified to answer those questions than receiver Allen Lazard, who was signed in advance of the acquisition of Rodgers after having played his first five NFL seasons with him in Green Bay.
Before the Jets took a Labor Day weekend break from practice, I asked Lazard to assess Rodgers’ form now compared to what it was in his best years in Green Bay.
“He’s somewhere in between amazing and excellent,” Lazard told The Post. “Maybe magnificent.”
So, in your eyes, you don’t think he’s lost anything?
“He’s as good as he’s ever been, honestly,” Lazard said. “I don’t want to hype him up too much or anything, but … ”
Lazard, of course, is biased. But still: no Jets player has a better, more unique perspective of Rodgers’ form then and now than Lazard, who, like Rodgers, is also trying to return to his Green Bay form.
There was no shortage of candidates who qualified for the most scorn from frustrated Jets fans in 2023. The three men who manned the quarterback position after Rodgers went down for the season were at the top of that list.
Lazard wasn’t far behind Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle, though.
The 28-year-old receiver whom the Jets signed to a four year, $44 million with $22 million guaranteed was one of the team’s most stark disappointments in 2023.
In fairness, he was a receiver without a competent NFL quarterback, and a receiver who’d been spoiled by having played his entire career with one of the greatest of all time to play the position.
Still, though, Lazard’s 2023 season stung and it’s left him highly motivated to “reestablish my value to this team.”
He entered last season having caught 60 passes for 788 yards and six touchdowns in 2022. That followed his 2021 season when he had 40 catches for 513 yards and eight touchdowns.
Lazard’s numbers in 2023 — 23 catches for 311 yards and one TD — hardly matched the contract he signed. And he heard about it from Jets fans.
“It was a difficult year,” Lazard said. “It was tough just from the fact that up until last year I worked my whole career to get that stability and security. I came to a new city with new adventures, kind of feeling like I’m finally got to this check in my life … and then obviously the season is what the season was.”
Lazard wasn’t deaf to the negative chatter in 2023. He was well aware of the derisive words many Jets fans had for his lack of production.
But you never once heard Lazard whine about it. He kept his head down and quietly went about his business. He remained accountable.
“That’s part of this career when we signed up for everything, and truthfully I wouldn’t want any other way,’’ Lazard said. “I use all that as motivation, take all that stuff from last year to turn into motivation and focus and to get better at my craft and be a better teammate.’’
It’s human nature for even the most established player, when his production drops and outside criticism raises, to doubt himself. Lazard conceded to having those unsettled feelings, wondering if he was still the player he was before he came to the Jets.
“Those little voices in your head get a little bit louder in those tough times,’’ he said. “But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still play and persevere through the tough times. Last year I knew wasn’t going to be my last year of playing football.’’
Lazard rebounded with a strong training camp this summer. Now he wants to take that to the real games.
“I’m appreciative of camp and the success and the growth that I was able to make and just kind of reestablish my value to this team,’’ he said. “But at the end of the day, nothing matters until Sunday.’’
In this case, Monday.
“That’s really what you get judged for and graded on and ridiculed for, right?’’ he said. “So, that [training camp] checkpoint doesn’t mean that I’m anywhere near where I need to go.’’
