'The Jets kind of owe us one,' NFL says after Aaron Rodgers' team slotted for six prime-time games
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks up during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
The NFL and its media partners made a big bet on the Jets last season by giving them plenty of prime-time games to showcase the Aaron Rodgers-led team. They lost that bet in a big way when Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon tear four plays into the opener.
But now the league is doubling down, going back to the well with six prime-time Jets games in the season’s first 11 weeks.
“It’s an awful lot of prime-time games early in the season,” Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, said on a video news conference with reporters on Thursday, the day after the 2024 schedule was released.
“But obviously, I feel like the Jets kind of owe us one. When we had this conversation a year ago, we were all all-in on the Jets. For that guy [Rodgers] to last four plays was disheartening for many of us. We feel like we can run it back.”
The NFL was stuck with five prime-time Jets games last season, plus a nationally televised window on Black Friday, after Rodgers went down. That was not good for anyone.
By front-loading the prime-time games this year, the league can capitalize on interest surrounding Rodgers’ return to the field while protecting itself against the Jets fading out of contention along the way.
“Certainly our broadcast partners, when they came to us early in the process talking about what storylines they want to focus on early in the season, obviously Aaron Rodgers’ return was a key one for everybody,” North said. “Everyone was looking for an early-season Aaron Rodgers opportunity.”
The Jets open with a Monday night game in San Francisco on Sept. 9. The only other teams with six prime-time games scheduled are the 49ers and Cowboys. If the Jets are in contention, they could get flexed into another night game later in the season.
The Jets also have a standalone game in London against the Vikings on Oct. 6.
“No question we’re counting on them,” North said. “Hopefully [Rodgers] stays healthy and hopefully they’re relevant.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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