Aaron Rodgers regrets the Jets' mental mistakes in loss to Broncos

Trainers examined his left leg on the sideline, the same leg that tore his Achilles tendon in the 2023 opener. He declined to specify what he was suffering from, saying: “I have pain in both legs.”

He said he would be “OK” for Sunday’s next game against the Minnesota Vikings in London.

The Jets (2-2) still have a lot to clean up before then, especially on offense, which allowed five sacks and called nine of the team's 13 penalties – including five false starts.

The low point came in the first half when they had to settle for a field goal after a first-and-goal. They tried on fourth down, but a false start by left guard John Simpson forced coach Robert Saleh to send kicker Greg Zuerlein, who missed the potential game-winner from 50 yards in the final minute.

“It’s unacceptable for us to lose this game today,” wide receiver Allen Lazard said. “I mean, any time our defense is able to hold a team to 10 points, we have to be able to get a lot more out of it.”

The Jets, looking for their best four-game start since 2015, talked about the importance of managing for success. They were eight points ahead of the Broncos (2-2); The Jets haven't had this much of an advantage since 2011. Suffice it to say, they did not respond well to the rainy conditions, which affected both passing attacks.

Rodgers (24 of 42, 225 yards) was under pressure and appeared frustrated at times as the Jets had no answer to Denver's blitz. According to Next Gen Stats, four of their five sacks came when they sent in five or more rushers.

“We had some chances, but we made way too many mental mistakes, too many bad shots,” Rodgers said. “We just missed some simple things – some protection things that should have been easy and some route adjustment things that should have been easy. I don't know, our focus just wasn't as sharp as it was the first few weeks.”

Rodgers almost always wins when the opponent is held to 10 points. Before Sunday, he had won 22 consecutive starts when opponents scored 10 or fewer points, which was the longest active streak in the NFL. He is 33-2 for his career in this situation, including playoffs.

Saleh lamented pre-snap penalties, a bugbear of the past for the Jets, who led the league in false starts last season. He wondered aloud whether Rodgers' sophisticated cadence, known for drawing defenses offside and leading to free plays, was right for the Jets.

“We have to figure out if we’re good enough to handle all the cadence,” Saleh said. “The cadence wasn’t a problem. Throughout camp I felt like our operations were going pretty well.”

In fact, the Jets only had one false start in their first three games.

Obviously, Rodgers doesn't think his rhythm – one of his trademarks – is the problem.

“That’s a possibility,” he said, commenting on whether it would help ease his rhythm. “The other option is to hold them accountable. We had no problem.”

“It was a weapon. We use it every day in training. We rarely have a false start, today there are five, four or five. It seems to be an outlier. I don’t know if we need to make massive changes based on an outlier game.”

The Jets have other problems, like getting running back Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson on track. They've gotten off to slow starts and on Sunday they combined for just 59 yards on 17 touches. For Hall, it was statistically the worst game of his career – 10 carries for just four yards. He also made two false starts.

“I wish I could tell you, bro,” Hall said, trying to explain his start — just 174 rushing yards and a 3.1-yard average. “Everyone, my teammates, knows how much I’ve invested and I know how much they’ve invested too.”

Wilson (five catches for 41 yards) hasn't broken the 60-yard mark in any game, and it's obvious that he and Rodgers are still dealing with some chemistry issues. There was a blatant miscommunication on a pass in the fourth quarter that could have sparked their momentum.

“Just not on the same page” on this play, Rodgers said.