New York Jets fans are flying high after the club notched back-to-back victories, and quarterback Aaron Rodgers guided New York to an impressive 24-3 Week 3 win over the New England Patriots.
As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 2-1 Jets as massive 7.5-point favorites for this coming Sunday’s home game versus the 1-2 Denver Broncos. Rodgers spoke on Wednesday about how important it is for players who haven’t had much success with the Jets to stay focused on being more than September champions.
“Everyone’s going to start you-know-what’ing us a little bit,” Rodgers said about the Jets possibly getting to 3-1 on the season, per Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper. “I go back to this quote a lot, but (former Green Bay Packers head coach) Mike McCarthy said, ‘Our biggest struggle is going to be handling success’ back in 2016 in Green Bay, and there’s a lot to that. …It’s easier when you’re kind of getting kicked in the teeth to kind of come together, ‘it’s us against the world, it’s us against the big bad media whose saying how bad we are,’ you know?”
Rodgers looked a bit rusty across the campaign’s first two games coming off the torn Achilles he suffered four offensive snaps into New York’s 2023 season opener. The 40-year-old then sparked visions of a future championship celebration in the heads of some New York fans when he completed 27-of-35 passes for 281 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Patriots.
Heading into Week 4 of the season, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Jets tied for fourth among the betting favorites at +700 odds to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LIX. Rodgers said on Wednesday that Jets players will need to “come together” if outsiders start “to sing [our] praises a little bit” amid a winning streak.
“I think that’s the mark of a great team,” Rodgers continued, “just, can you handle the success part, with the same focus, the same mentality, the same mindset, the same energy when you’re starting to get on a little bit of a roll?”
The Jets are currently responsible for the longest active playoff drought in the four major North American sports leagues, which extended to 13 consecutive seasons last December. Rodgers’s ensuring his teammates avoid taking victory laps one month into the ongoing campaign could go a long way toward Gang Green ending that dubious streak.
