Aaron Rodgers happy with leadership mix in Jets' locker room
Aaron Rodgers talks with C.J. Mosley during Jets training camp. Credit: Ed Murray
Aaron Rodgers followed the leadership to New York.
When Rodgers met with Jets officials in Malibu in March, he asked general manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh what the leadership was like. Rodgers liked what he heard then and likes what he’s experienced over the last four-plus months since becoming a Jet.
The leadership from above and in the locker room has given Rodgers even more confidence that the Jets can contend for a Super Bowl this season.
“Right from the top. I think Robert has done a fantastic job of setting the goals for training camp, for each day kind of bringing things back home and giving us some little tidbits to take with us,” Rodgers said. “I just think he’s been really savvy about what to say and when to say it and then the best teams are player-led teams.”
The players voted for team captains on Monday. Rodgers, linebacker C.J. Mosley and special teams ace Justin Hardee earned the C on their jerseys.
Mosley is a captain for the third straight year and Hardee for the second. Jets players and coaches have raved about Rodgers’ leadership since OTAs.
The Jets, who open the season on Monday night against the Bills, have other veteran leaders. Among them are Duane Brown, Connor McGovern, C.J. Uzomah, Dalvin Cook, Randall Cobb, Allen Lazard, Quinnen Williams, Carl Lawson and D.J. Reed.
According to Rodgers, the Jets have a good mix of vocal leaders, lead-by-example guys and hungry, young players. Rodgers also likes that Saleh — known for his fiery motivational speeches and catchphrases — is secure enough in himself to give the players the freedom to have a voice and to police themselves.
“I think the best teams have a good balance of guys that are vocal and willing to step into that leadership role and say what needs to be said at certain times and also knowing went to not say that,” Rodgers said. “To have those lead-by-example guys who can kind of be the pullers on a sled dog team where they’re people who just put their head down and go to work every single day. You need those young guys, those young dogs in the back, like you’re just so amped to just get going and pull that thing and wear themselves out.
“I like the leadership on this team. I think we’re all trying to get this culture exactly what we want to but in order for that to happen there has to be kind of the framework from the head coach to allow the team to step into that leadership.
“I haven’t been around this a whole lot, but I feel like a lot of coaches maybe say they want a player-led team, but don’t realize they have to kind of give some of that control away. That’s where that trust comes in. Once they fully trust and surrender to that and allow players to actually be accountable on their own, that’s when their trust is returned and the team becomes a player-led team.”
Saleh has worked with a number of coaches who believe in empowering players, including Pete Carroll in Seattle.
When Saleh was hired by the Jets in 2021, they were a young team. He tried to add some veterans who could bring along the young players. Saleh said you have to find “the right type of veteran.” Now Saleh feels fortunate that the Jets have an abundance of those "right" guys.
“You feel really good about the guys that we have in terms of how they approach the game,” Saleh said. “As long as you have the right guy, that balance becomes priceless.
“I’ve said it before, when they’re in the locker room — because we don’t go in the locker room — players spend more time with each other than coaches do with players. So to have that veteran leadership to guide and show a young man, it’s like a big brother, ‘Come on, let me show you how to do this.’ To have that, it really is priceless.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
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