Jets’ Sauce Gardner savoring chance to face Aaron Rodgers

Sauce Gardner doesn’t sound afraid to wave a Terrible Towel at Aaron Rodgers if the Jets beat their former quarterback in Week 1.

Rodgers made his Steelers practice debut this week, and the NFL has set up a juicy season-opening matchup with the future Hall of Famer returning to MetLife Stadium to face the Jets at 1 p.m. Sept. 7 in his first game since he was cut by head coach Aaron Glenn.

“I think it’s going to be fun,” Gardner said. “There’s going to be a lot of smiling out there, a lot of competing out there. I’m looking forward to it. I know Aaron is a competitor. They’ve got DK [Metcalf] over there, who also is a competitor. I think it’s going to be a pretty good game.”

Gardner famously grabbed a cheesehead and brought it back home after the Jets beat the Rodgers-led Packers at Lambeau Field in 2022.

The two then became close friends in a mentor-student way over two seasons as Jets teammates.

Could Gardner have something up his sleeve if the Jets prevail again?

“Sure, sure,” Gardner laughed.

He continued that he might have to “tread lightly” if the game was in Pittsburgh, “but we play here, so we’re on home court. I have to think about it.”

Glenn smiled at a Rodgers-based question and danced around it without saying the quarterback’s name.

“Every game there is a lot of noise because they’re so critical as far as wins and losses,” he said. “I don’t care who that opponent is. It just so happened to be Pittsburgh. Listen, they have a lot of good players on that team. They have a damn good coach who I’m fond of, but our players are going to be ready to play every game. And I know that for a fact.”

The 2028 Summer Olympics will include 5-on-5 flag football.

One player per NFL team will be permitted to join the 10-man roster.

“I definitely would be interested in it,” Gardner said. “Being able to play for my country, I think it’s a big deal. Every time it’s the Olympics, I’m always tuned in.”

Gardner joked that it would be a nice respite from preseason grind.

“It would be good to have that during training camp when it’s tough,” Gardner said. “Being able to go to the Olympics and have some fun for a little bit before we get into the season.”

One of the go-to trick plays in the Lions playbook the past four years was throwing passes to offensive tackles Dan Skipper, Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker.

To keep things loose during Thursday’s practice, Glenn had his offensive linemen catching go-balls.

Did he see potential?

“Absolutely not,” Glenn laughed. “That’s going to be a work in progress, I’ll tell you that.”

CB Michael Carter II missed four games last season, including two of the last three, due to a nagging back injury.

Carter was cleared to begin rehabbing in February.

He said he mixed in medical treatments with three or four rehab sessions per week over a six- or seven-week period.

“I’m in a lot better place now,” Carter said. “I did the work in the offseason and everything like that and then throughout OTAs. So I feel really good.”

The Jets signed OG Marquis Hayes and undrafted rookie DE Kingsley Jonathan to take the roster spots of OG Zack Bailey and CB Tre Swilling, both of whom were waived.