Aaron Rodgers' impact upon the New York Jets transcends his contribution on the field, says team-mate Quincy Williams, who has lauded the quarterback's "huge" influence.
The Jets are still awaiting an on-field impact from Rodgers, who was expected to lead the team into title contention after arriving from the Green Bay Packers but saw his 2023 season end in Week 1.
Rodgers, a 10-time Pro Bowler, tore his Achilles tendon on just his fourth snap in Jets colours, finishing his only game of 2023 0-for-1 passing in a 22-16 defeat to the Buffalo Bills.
Replacement QB Zach Wilson struggled through the remainder of the season as the Jets finished 7-10, but Williams says Rodgers still exerted a big influence in the dressing room.
"It's been a huge impact," Williams said of his veteran team-mate. "Let's be honest, he wanted those gold jacket guys soon, that's the most important thing.
"Anything he tells you, [you take] as constructive criticism. You write it down thinking about it because he'll come up to you in the middle of practice like: 'Hey this is what I'm looking at, what do you think about this?'
"He's one of those open people where you can also go to him and say, 'I've got a question about the game plan', even if it's offense or defense.
"The most important thing is he advises about being a pro off the field, nutrition wise, on training and things like mental health, things you want to focus on so you can be better during the season."
Though Rodgers was unable to make an impact for the Jets on the field, Williams left his own mark and was rewarded with the first All-Pro selection of his career.
That achievement capped a remarkable turnaround for the linebacker, who put his injury struggles behind him to appear in all 17 Jets games in 2023.
"I would describe it as a rollercoaster," Williams said. "The change from this year to last year was just me buying in.
"I came from a small school at Murray State and got drafted third round, then I ran into a lot of injuries in Jacksonville.
"I got cut from the Jaguars but got a great opportunity from the Jets to come and play with them, and also to play with my brother [Quinnen Williams].
"The season didn't go [to plan] but, most importantly, we faced the adversity. Everyone was on the same page.
"I wouldn't change the rollercoaster I was on because of the people I was with; those are my team-mates, my brother, and also my coaching staff."
This International Women's Day, the New York Jets and the Chicago Bears announced the expansion of the Jets and Bears NFL Girls Flag League, the first UK all-girls competition of its kind. To learn more about the initiative, please visit www.chicagobears.com and https://nyjetsinuk.com/girls-flag.
Packers, QB Love agree to 4-year, $220 million contract
Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have agreed to a four-year extension worth $220 million, tying him as the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, according to multiple sources.
Love, who has only had one full season as an NFL starter, will earn $55 million annually with $155 million guaranteed and a $75 million signing bonus, also the largest in league history.
His yearly salary ties him with Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence for highest in NFL history.
After finally trading Aaron Rodgers in April 2023, Love, 25, became the Packers’ undisputed starter. He struggled through the first seven games last season and Green Bay was 2-5 but he took off and the Packers finished 9-8 and earned a wild card spot.
In the Packers’ final eight games of the regular season, Love had 16 touchdowns and one interception. In a 48-32 playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys, he had a near-perfect 157.2 passer rating with 16 of 21 completions for 272 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.
Love completed 372 of 579 passes (64.2 percent) for 4,159 yards last season with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
His 32 TD passes ranked second in the NFL behind Dallas’ Dak Prescott (36).
All that production came while Love was throwing to the most productive, young group of receivers since at least 1970. The Packers’ 302 receptions, 3,642 receiving yards and 31 receiving touchdowns are the most by a team’s group of first-or second-year pass catchers since the AFL/NFL merger.
Green Bay also became the youngest team in that same span to win a playoff game with an average age of 25 years and 214 days.
Dolphins extend Tua Tagovailoa on 4-year, $212M deal
The Miami Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa have agreed to a four-year, $212.4million contract extension, multiple media outlets reported Friday.
The contract, which is the largest in franchise history, reportedly includes $167million in guarantees, which ranks eighth among NFL quarterbacks.
With a long-term deal in place, Tagovailoa can focus on preparing for the upcoming season. He had been a minimal participant in Miami’s initial training camp sessions.
Drafted fifth overall out of Alabama, Tagovailoa has had a passer rating over 100 in each of the last two seasons and answered durability concerns by starting all 17 games last year.
While some pundits had been hesitant to endorse a large extension for Tagovailoa, but Dolphins general manager Chris Grier was determined to keep the left-hander in Miami.
"We're strong believers in him. And you guys all feel [coach Mike McDaniel's] passion about him when he talks about him," Grier said in February.
"Just in the two years of what he's done, he's grown in areas to where he led the league in passing and did some great things this year. And we all feel there's still another level he can take it.
"The way he's attacked this and wants to be great, and the combination of Mike and working with that and that trust and belief in each other, we do think there's still another level which he could go."
Tagovailoa completed 69.3 percent of his passes last season for 4,624 yards, 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions while leading the Dolphins to an 11-6 record. The Dolphins’ play-off appearance was brief, ending in a 26-7 loss in frigid Kansas City in the wild-card round.
Since McDaniel took over as head coach, Tagovailoa ranks fourth in the NFL in passing yards (8,172), fifth in passing touchdowns (54) and second in passer rating (102.9).
Atlanta Falcons QB Cousins cleared to practice
Quarterback Kirk Cousins was on the field for the Atlanta Falcons' first training camp practice after being cleared to participate by the team's medical staff.
Head coach Raheem Morris told reporters Thursday that Cousins, recovering from a torn right Achilles tendon sustained in October, will be under slight restrictions during camp but is still expected to handle the majority of first-team reps during team drills.
"Obviously, we'll do some sort of our own modifications [like] some of the things we did with Kirk during the spring, but he's ready to go," Morris said.
"He's fired up, the team's fired up. The limitations for him, you won't notice."
Cousins suffered the injury on Oct. 29 in what turned out to be his final game with the Minnesota Vikings. The four-time Pro Bowl selection signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in March to address the team's most glaring need, a top-tier starting quarterback.
The soon-to-be 36-year-old is expected to open the season as Atlanta's starter despite the Falcons selecting former University of Washington star quarterback Michael Penix with the eighth overall pick of this year's draft.
Cousins did take part in some drills during the Falcons' offseason training activities in May, but was mainly limited to individual work.
"I think the precaution [in OTAs], I think was pretty much helpful for how we go about the business of keeping people away from him," Morris said. "Now there will be people to be around him, and we feel comfortable with that moving forward and doing some of those things.
"Obviously, some of these limitations will come in our individual drills, making sure we don't wear him out to the point where we want to get all the team reps with him."
Cousins was in the midst of another strong season in 2023, as he was leading the NFL in touchdown passes (18) at the time of his injury in Week 8. The 12-year veteran completed 69.5 per cent of his passes for 2,331 yards with five interceptions in eight games, though the injury prevented him from likely reaching 4,000 passing yards for a fourth straight season.
Morris is also in his first season as the Falcons' permanent head coach, though he went 4-7 as the team's interim coach in 2020 after Atlanta fired Dan Quinn during the season.
Atlanta has finished 7-10 in each of the last three seasons and has missed the playoffs in six consecutive seasons, tied with the Carolina Panthers for the longest active drought among NFC teams.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
