AFC Notes: Bill Belichick, Jerod Mayo, Aaron Rodgers, Jets, Patriots

Jets

The Jets have had a disastrous season and have not had the success they expected in two years since trading for QB Aaron Rodgers. Former Patriots HC Bill Belichick cited other veteran QBs who changed teams as why he believes Rodgers could reasonably return to form in 2025 while acknowledging how difficult it is to learn a new offense with the same results.

“[Rodgers] could easily rebound from that and be ready to play and have a good year next year,” Belichick said, via the Let’s Go podcast. “You look at all the quarterbacks in the league that are kind of on their second teams and they’re doing pretty well, Russell Wilson and Geno Smith and [Sam] Darnold, Baker Mayfield, you go right down the line, [Matthew] Stafford for that matter, Jared Goff. These guys that switch teams, they get in a different system, things are a little bit different for them, maybe they learn some things from whatever it was their previous experiences were. It changes. When a guy has a long career and a good career, sometimes one season is just a bump in the road. It’s not necessarily the end of the road.”

“I think that’s one of the toughest things to do as a coach in professional football, is to figure out when that right time is or isn’t. One thing you run into sometimes with players as they age in their career is the injury factor. And sometimes players can have an injury at the later point in their career and make it look like maybe it’s an age problem when actually it was an injury problem. And then once that injury clears up, then there’s a lot more good football left in that player.”

Jets

• When appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, Jets QB Aaron Rodgers said his body is still feeling “great” after recovering from a torn Achilles and isn’t considering shutting things down: “My body feels great, I want to be out there with the guys.”
• Rodgers said his goal was always to play every game this year after his Achilles surgery and “finish the season out the right way.” (Rich Cimini)

Patriots

Down one point late in the game, the Patriots opted to try a 68-yard field goal instead of a Hail Mary for the win. New England HC Jerod Mayo took responsibility for the decision but admitted he wasn’t sure what the right decision was according to analytics.

“That was 100 percent me,” Mayo said, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “Look, Slye was hitting it well in pregame, and I felt that that was the best thing to do to help our team win the football game. Not sure what the numbers are on Hail Marys versus the field goal there, but that’s what I felt was right.”