Robert Saleh: Aaron Rodgers is like having another coach on the field

Robert Salah recognizes what Aaron Rodgers has brought to the New York Jets, and the offensive genius the quarterback possesses.

While he’s been a little controversial since joining the embattled franchise, Rodgers is the most talented quarterback the team has had maybe ever, and Saleh is certainly appreciative of his talent. He gave Rodgers a lofty compliment while speaking with the media, as training camp rages on.

“Yeah, I’ve said it, he’s a coach on the field,” Saleh responded, regarding Rodgers’ input during practices and games. “I mean, there’s — I’ve heard stories of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, not to compare them, but it’s the same thing. The expectation and the standard is high. As a quarterback, he’s trying to operate at a certain level of efficiency, which means people around him need to be efficient at the same level.

“And when — when he’s not feeling that as a group’s leader and voice, he voices his opinion, and it’s no different than the defensive side of the ball, when it’s not going the way people want it, CJ [Mosely] voice is his opinion. He’s definitely — I’ve said it before, it’s like having a coach on the field.”

Alas, Rodgers’ ability to cultivate the offense and lead the Jets will be huge when the season begins, as the schedule is a brutal one for New York. Still, there’s immense opportunity for the AFC East franchise, and there will be lofty expectations placed upon the Jets in 2024.

Having a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers, with his wealth of experience and knowledge, will be invaluable for New York, as long as the Jets superstar can stay healthy enough to show it this time around.

Aaron Rodgers on playing in preseason: ‘That’s Robert’s decision’

In other news, Aaron Rodgers was a little surprised to hear he wouldn’t play in any preseason games for the New York Jets.

Still, he conceded it was head coach Robert Saleh’s decision when asked about it last week. Regardless, he’s open to playing in games to get his feet wet since that’s what he’s used to doing for the vast majority of his career.

For now, it’s still to-be-determined if this’ll stick but Rodgers might not be playing until the season opener.

“That’s Robert’s decision,” Rodgers said. “I’ve never told him I don’t want to play in the preseason. There’s a lot of thoughts about whether there’s any particular gain from it. You know, we used to play all the time. It wasn’t even a question. We play, you know, 10 to 15 (snaps) in the first one, a quarter and a half in the second one and into third quarter in the third one … Shoot, sometimes through the third quarter we would play, you know, maybe a series or two. 

“Now nobody wants to play. They don’t want to play their guys. It’s different to combat that and now we’re doing all these practices with other teams. So we have three of those. I’m assuming those will be like our super heavy days, then it’ll be like the preseason for us. If he decides he wants me to play against the Giants, I’ll strap it up and look forward to that.”

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this article.