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It sounds like Aaron Rodgers has some thoughts on how the Jets went from building a potent 1-2 combination in the backfield to looking punchless on the ground.
“Aaron and I had a conversation about, when he was with the Jets, how abysmal their running game was and how schematically it made no sense,” NFL on Fox analyst Mark Schlereth said recently on his “The Stinkin Truth” podcast, according to SteelersNow.com. “I started the conversation, and then Aaron went on for about a 25-minute diatribe on their run game.”
Rodgers counts Schlereth among his tight circle of friends.
The Jets drafted big back Braelon Allen in the fourth round in 2024 to pair with former second-round pick Breece Hall to create what they thought would be a dynamic duo.
Instead, the Jets ranked No. 31 in the NFL with 91.8 rushing yards per game, and Rodgers was often left disgusted and throwing his hands in the air when a short-yardage run failed.
The Jets had Rodgers’ friend Nathaniel Hackett as the offensive coordinator for the first five games under head coach Robert Saleh.
When Saleh was fired, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich promoted pass-game coordinator Todd Downing to play-caller while retaining Hackett.
Two minds was not better than one in this case.
Hall was hurt the most by the dysfunction as he averaged a career-low 4.2 yards per carry and finished with 876 yards on the ground after saying in the preseason that 1,000 was an automatic.
Rodgers and the Steelers will face the Jets in Week 1, but the opposing run game won’t look familiar because Hackett and Downing are long gone.
Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand is a full-time play-caller for the first time since 2017, and head coach Aaron Glenn made an enemy out of the grudge-holding Rodgers when he released the future Hall of Fame quarterback without much of a conversation on the possibility of returning.
