'What's There To Gain?' Rodgers On Preseason

Preseason Week 2 is upon us and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers will once again not be playing this week. When he was asked about it on Tuesday, he was very honest with his answer.

“It’s to see if the young guys, once the lights go on, the pads go on, tackling happens, if they can show up or if they don’t,” Rodgers said. “What’s there to gain?

“You know, just going out there, being back on the field in a situation where you can get hit. The way we went after our defense … the few days we go against them, I’ll probably get hit as well.”

Coming off a year in which he missed the entire season after suffering a ruptured Achilles just four plays into the season, you can’t really blame him for not wanting to play in games that don’t really matter.

“Preseason, it’s not real football,” Rodgers added.

He’s not entirely wrong. Rodgers has talked many times about how much he played as a younger quarterback in the league, but if you combine all the new rules about practice time, coming off an injury, and the fact that he is 40 years old, why would he want to play in meaningless games?

Head coach Robert Saleh was asked about Rodgers playing in the preseason, and he didn’t completely rule it out. But ...

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“My instinct right now as I stand here is we’ll see,” Saleh said. “My instinct is no, but I want to leave it open. That third game is the one where we’re deciding.”

While he may consider playing Rodgers against the Giants in the final preseason game of the year, we wouldn’t bet on it. Rodgers is saving himself for games that matter.

The Jets and Rodgers are in a make-or-break season, and he plans to lead this team to the playoffs and beyond.

Risking all that for a few preseason snaps, just doesn’t make sense.