Jets' Aaron Rodgers on Zach Wilson: 'I love him . . . I really do'

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Zach Wilson promised if the Jets acquired a veteran quarterback, he would “make that dude’s life hell every day in practice.” Wilson had no idea at the time that it would be Aaron Rodgers.

It turns out that Rodgers and Wilson have developed a friendship that started when the Jets and Packers held joint practices two years ago. Rodgers believes Wilson can be “special” and he wants to help him reach his potential.

“He’s going to make my life hell in practice so I’m going to make his life heaven off the field,” Rodgers said. “I really enjoy Zach a lot. We got to start a friendship and it’s just grown over the years. The last couple of years he hits me up from time to time during the season, the offseason we spend time together. I love him. I really do.

“I feel like part of my role here is to help him get his confidence back. The team believes in him. That’s one question I asked. I said, ‘How do you feel about Zach because I care about his feelings and I care about how he’s viewed.’ They really believe in him. They think he can be special and so do I — just watching him in practice during those joint practices you see the talent and ability.”

The Jets drafted Wilson second overall in 2021. He flashed some as a rookie, but regressed last season and was benched twice. That led to the Jets pursuing Rodgers this offseason. Ironically, Wilson followed Rodgers closely growing up and tried patterning his game after the four-time MVP.

General manager Joe Douglas and coach Robert Saleh have repeatedly said Wilson has a bright future. They made the mistake of not having a veteran to help Wilson when he was a rookie. They acquired Joe Flacco after Wilson got hurt that first season. Now, the Jets hope Wilson will grow from sharing a field and quarterback room with Rodgers.

“I think being around me and seeing how I go about my business, seeing how I lead, how I interact with the guys I think there’s some things he can pick off from that,” Rodgers said. “The opportunity here is to be a great mentor to him, to teach him fundamental stuff, to allow him to be around me and through osmosis just pick up some things that can really help him in his career. That’s what happened to me being around Brett [Favre].

“When you’re not around established guys who had really really successful careers a lot of times you might not know exactly what it looks like. He’s been around some studs. Joe Flacco is a great dude. But I think being around me and just our friendship that goes back a couple of years now will be really special to see him grow and become the player he’s capable, that I believe, that he should believe and that the team believes he can be.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.