Troy Aikman Rips on NFL Quarterbacks Following Week 1

The NFL is back in full swing, with Week 1 now in the books. The opening week concluded with Monday Night Football's game between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers spoiled Aaron Rodgers' comeback, beating the Jets handily, 32-19 at Levi's Stadium. The story of the game was running back Jordan Mason, who filled in for last year's NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey. Mason rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown, dominating the evening.

With Mason's standout performance, Monday night's game had little to do with either quarterback, Brock Purdy or Rodgers. Purdy completed 19 of 29 passes for 231 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Rodgers, on the other hand, managed just 13 of 21 passes for 167 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

This continued the trend of underwhelming quarterback play in Week 1, something that Hall of Famer Troy Aikman commented on.

During Monday Night Countdown , Scott Van Pelt highlighted the decline in quarterback statistics for Week 1. After Rodgers' and Tyrod Taylor's touchdowns, only 35 touchdown passes had been thrown in Week 1.

"A couple of years ago, it was 61 (touchdowns)," Van Pelt said. "Half the league yesterday threw for under 200 yards."

Van Pelt asked Aikman if the lack of preseason play for starting quarterbacks might be a factor.

“Well, I would agree partly, that the fact they don’t play impacts things,” Aikman said. “They don’t work together as often in the offseason or in training camp as they once did, because a lot of players simply just aren’t practicing because of the fear factor of injury.”

Rodgers, like many veteran quarterbacks, played little to none in the preseason. Meanwhile, rookie quarterbacks like Bo Nix, Jayden Daniels, and Caleb Williams did get reps during the preseason, but each had their own struggles in Week 1.

All three rookies failed to pass for over 200 yards. Nix threw for 138 yards, Daniels for 184, and Williams had the worst performance of the three, falling short of 100 yards with just 93 passing yards. None of the rookies managed to throw a touchdown.

“Quite simply, Scott, the quarterback play yesterday was not very good overall,” Aikman added. “In general, not very good. There were some really good performances, but I saw some really bad quarterback play.

“Now, you expect some of that from the rookies, of course, but there were some guys who are veteran players who just simply didn’t play well.”

Aikman didn't specify which veteran quarterbacks underperformed in Week 1. However, names like Deshaun Watson, Kirk Cousins, Daniel Jones, Kyler Murray, and even Joe Burrow come to mind. Each of these veterans failed to reach 200 passing yards, struggled with accuracy, made costly decisions, or missed open receivers in their season openers.

If quarterback play doesn’t improve in Week 2, Aikman, a three-time Super Bowl champion, one-time Super Bowl MVP, and six-time Pro Bowler, will likely have even more criticism to offer in the coming weeks.