Aaron Rodgers missed some time in OTA's, and the New York media already turned on him.
The New York Post has done it. Just weeks into the New York Jets offseason program, the Post published a Zach Wilson puff piece, suggesting that the BYU product and potential NFL Draft bust in the making is the second-most important player on the roster.
What the argument for such a statement, you ask? Well, Rodgers missed some time with a calf injury this spring.
"But, like it or not, Wilson is the second-most-important player on the team. The man with jersey No. 2 is also the No. 2 quarterback and with a 39-year-old quarterback, the Jets are likely going to need Wilson at some point. Rodgers already has dealt with a calf injury this spring," Brian Costello of the New York Post wrote.
Has the New York media turned on Aaron Rodgers?
Included in said article were quotes from Wilson, who, in similar fashion to baseball players when they show up to spring training, is in the best shape of his life.
"I'm having a ton of fun — more fun than I've had," Wilson said. "And I think that's just the QB room, being with Aaron. I think it's feeling like every single day there's so much to, like, learn."
The piece commented on Wilson's and Rodgers' prior relationship, as they trained together in California. Even Jets coach Robert Saleh was signing Wilson's praises at OTAs. Consider the narrative painted.
"I give him a ton of credit because it's hard to do what he's been asked to do," Saleh said. "To be the second-overall pick, to have two years of playing a lot of football, then being asked to take a back seat to allow another man, to watch and learn from another man. So, from a personal standpoint, it's very humbling to be in his shoes right now, but at the same time, the way he's attacked it, his demeanor, his personality, the attitude at which he's done it, he's been very positive through this whole thing."
So, no, the New York media hasn't necessarily turned on Rodgers. But should he struggle, the wheels are already turning on those Wilson puff pieces. Expect this to be the first of many, ala Mitchell Trubisky in Buffalo.