Aaron Rodgers says the Jets need to “make peace” with the “darkness” of the nightmare start. Maybe he just needs to play better

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Twenty-two minutes into the Jets' horrific 25-22 loss to the Patriots, left tackle Tyron Smith sat alone at his locker, his cleats and uniform pants still on. His head was in both hands and he appeared to be staring at the ground.

With 34 minutes left, running back Breece Hall was still sitting at his locker after Sunday's loss dropped them to 2-6 and in a tie with the Patriots at the bottom of the AFC East in his full uniform. He had already spoken to reporters and blamed himself for this loss. Now he stared blankly at the almost empty room in front of him, a towel draped over his head, still unwilling to begin the process of putting this game behind him by heading into the shower.

“It hurts,” said interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, who was visibly shaken after the fifth loss in a row. “And it’s hard.”

In his message to the team, Ulbrich tried to turn this low point into a rallying cry during one of the most disappointing seasons in Jets history.

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“This is a moment of darkness,” Ulbrich said. “And we understand that the outside world is going to be really loud now. But the one thing I know in life is that when things get dark and hard, you work and point the finger at yourself and look within and figure out what I can do better from an individual perspective.

“If we do this together, which I believe we will, this is your only chance to get out of this situation. This is your only chance to improve and fix some of these errors. We’re fortunate in that I think the character of this locker room will reflect who she is.”

Aaron Rodgers also knows something about darkness. He went on that infamous “retreat into obscurity” in February 2023, and when he resurfaced, he decided not to retire after a first-ballot Hall of Fame career with the Packers, but instead to take the Join jets and try to change their fate.

He was also philosophical when responding to a question about his coach's “overcoming the darkness” message.

“Yeah, I was in the dark,” Rodgers said. “You have to go in there and make peace with it.”

But Rodgers' philosophical message that day rang hollow because that day, when he began with an explanation of why the Jets were losing games, the reality is that the Jets are in the dark because Rodger isn't playing well enough.

“Offensively, our goal just has to be to score 30 points,” Rodgers said. “It doesn’t matter what the other two sides do. We have confidence in our defense and our teams, but if we don't score 30 points we are underperforming. This offense can do that every week.”

The Jets gave Rodgers every chance to win this game. Maybe too many chances. Rodgers completed 17 of 28 passes for 233 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was a decent game. But not the kind of play the Jets expected from Rodgers when they signed him to be the difference-maker for their franchise.

Against a struggling Patriots team that had just given up 41 points to the Texans and 32 to the Jaguars, the Jets' offense made more eye-popping mistakes than big plays. They were forced to call three timeouts in the first 14 minutes to prevent time from running out.

What happened?

“I’m not entirely sure,” Rodgers said. “In one of them we stayed back from the crowd, in one I tried to find the right protection. I felt like we could have gotten out, but it was okay to take it there. Yes, our operations were a little slow at times.”

With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, rookie running back Braelon Allen scored a touchdown, giving them a 22-17 lead. Extra point to tie or two-point conversion to take the lead.

But time expired before Rodgers could snap the ball, and the Jets had to attempt the two-point conversion from the 7-yard line instead of the 2-yard line. They failed and the Patriots won with a touchdown in the final minute.

So what happened there?

“Well, they start the (game) clock at 8 p.m., and we had a shift and a motion,” Rodgers said. “And when it came down to it, the defense they were playing was no longer good for the play that was called for. I thought we should just move it back to 7, the difference isn't that big. I liked the play we called, but they didn’t pressure at all, and I guessed wrong, they guessed right.”

Rodgers can refuse it all he wants. The Jets didn't score after the penalty, so it was a big deal. And he can talk all he wants about getting something out of this season, but his lack of winning streak is the main reason they're here. And it won't change until he starts doing it right.

Sunday was proof of that. Now there can be no more excuses. Rodgers had three proven receivers in his close friend Davante Adams, Garrett Wilson and Mike Williams. He had some nice moments with Wilson, with five catches for 13 yards, but Adams didn't play a role with four catches for 54 yards and Williams wasn't targeted once.

The Jets' running game worked when Breece Hall carried the ball; he had 16 carries for 80 yards. If they had given him more ball the result might have been different.

Instead, they gave Rodgers a chance to win the game against a struggling team that lost its starting quarterback in the first half. And he came away empty-handed. Again. And that's the main reason the Jets are 2-6, as their season is probably too late to salvage.

So the Jets may or may not embrace the darkness. But either way, it won't matter unless Rodgers starts playing better.