Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn’t help but have a little fun with Aaron Rodgers when he appeared on Prime Video’s pregame show ahead of the Jets’ 37-20 “Thursday Night Football” loss to the Browns.
Rodgers, 40, fired back at his critics earlier in the week, claiming they are the same people who spoke out against his choice to not get vaccinated against COVID-19, adding that those taking aim at him should have to say their vax status to “frame all these comments in the right window.”
Fitzpatrick, a former Jets quarterback himself, clearly caught wind of that and trolled Rodgers a bit when asked the four-time MVP a question.
“Hey Aaron, Ryan Fitzpatrick, class of 2005. How are you? Twice Vaccinated,” the current analyst said in the most deadpan way.
The comment almost immediately drew laughter from Rodgers, who was sitting on a bench on the Jets’ sideline during the interview.
After Fitzpatricks’ joke, Rodgers spent nearly eight minutes talking with the Prime Video pregame show about his recovery and the Jets season.
The future Pro Football Hall of Famer once again hinted that “if things had been different” with the Jets’ record, he “might be playing tonight.”
But Rodgers also expressed optimism about the future of the Jets, who will miss the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season after a number of injuries — including to Rodgers — impacted their year.
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He pinpointed, in his mind, that what would put the Jets in the contender category next season would be shoring up some issues on the offense.
“Offensively I think we need to shore up the offensive line a little bit,” Rodgers said. “Obviously, we had a lot of injuries. … A lot of moving pieces. A lot of different offensive lines throughout the year, so we have to shore that up a little bit.”
The quarterback didn’t see many holes that needed to be filled.
Rather, he felt that the team just needed to “reload a couple pieces here and there.”
“Maybe add another skilled player on the outside,” Rodgers added. “But I like the pieces that are in place moving forward. I think the other position we gotta make sure we shore up is our kicking. It’s been highlighted this year because we’ve had to punt so many times, but Thomas Morstead has had a fantastic season for us, and Greg Zuerlein, you saw last week, he’s been as consistent as anybody in the game.
“We have to get those guys back and other than I think we’ll be in a good place to make a run for the next few years.”
Rodgers’ Achilles injury four offensive plays into the season changed the course of the year, which went from one of hope to dread.
The signal-caller did flirt with the possibility of playing again this season, but based the decision on the Jets’ playoff positioning
He eventually ruled out a return after the Jets had been eliminated from playoff contention earlier this month.
The Jets have still managed to have one of the better defenses in the NFL, ranking third in total yards against per game, second in passing yards against per game and eighth in interceptions before Thursday’s matchup.
