In the wake of the New York Jets Monday Night Football loss, Aaron Rodgers recognizes where things went wrong and how he can improve. Now he's revisiting an old mantra that proved useful when his former team got off to a rough start years ago.
The football world remembers when Rodgers issued his famous call for calm after his Green Bay Packers started the 2014 season with a 1-2 record. Rodgers urged fans and talking heads alike to come to their senses, spelling things out with a simple but reassuring “R-E-L-A-X”.
The message was clear then and it applies now as well. Just as the Packers did 10 years ago, Rodgers wants the Jets to “stick to the process,” according to Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper.
“I think we always gotta stay relaxed… It’s a long season. I think, at times, people think the season is like you’re out in the prairie or the desert and you’re wandering around trying to find water. It’s more like a nice, slow Bolero, where we’re just swaying with the music… just trying to not get too high with the highs or too low with the lows. The league is a lot different than when I said ‘relax’ years ago in that there’s just so much more coverage, so much more opportunity for overreaction,” Rodgers told reporters Wednesday, per PFT’s Alper.
After Rodgers told everyone to “R-E-L-A-X” in 2014 the Packers would finish with a 12-4 record and win the NFC North. Green Bay made the postseason and reached the NFC Championship Game, losing to the Seattle Seahawks in overtime. Rodgers would win the second of his four MVP awards that season. In 2024 however, he’s 40 years old, coming off of a major injury and playing for the Jets.
Aaron Rodgers urges Jets to “stay relaxed”
While New York was handed an ugly 32-19 loss by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, it is too early to panic. Rodgers made it through the season opener this year and the 10-time Pro Bowler recognizes that the 49ers are a championship-caliber team. He's hoping his Jets face San Francisco again this season with a title on the line.
While Rodgers was understandably rusty playing his first game in 12 months, he still faced heavy criticism from football “analysts” like Colin Cowherd who believes “we have overvalued how good Aaron Rodgers is,” and Chris Russo, who urged the quarterback to “Go back to Green Bay.”
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Rodgers would be facing a media firing squad regardless of where he plays based on his controversial stance on a number of topics and his profile as a no-doubt, first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Of course, Rodgers generates interest. The Jets-49ers game brought in more than 20 million viewers and made history as the second-highest viewed Week One Monday Night Football matchup.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh recognized the talent level of the opponent as the 49ers reached the Super Bowl last season. Saleh swore his team would learn from the loss and make adjustments moving forward.
