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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The oldest player in the National Football League took off to his left, and an entire fanbase once again held its collective breath. Aaron Rodgers slid on the MetLife Stadium turf – where his 2023 season ended after four plays – for a first down and gain of 5 yards on the game’s second play.  

"The first time he ran," running back Breece Hall said, "I kind of started laughing in the back of my head. I was just like, 'He's crazy.'"

If salvation is a Super Bowl victory, then Thursday night was a salve for New York Jets fans. Rodgers, for the first time since he experienced the cruelest of season-ending injuries during his Jets debut against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 11, 2023, took the field at MetLife. He led his team to a 24-3 victory over the New England Patriots while looking like the type of quarterback who can send the Jets to the postseason for the first time in 14 years.

By the end of the third quarter, the chants of “J-E-T-S!” had turned into “Aa-ron Rod-gers!” As the game ended, Rodgers hoped for a final defensive stop so he could soak it all in during kneel-downs to wind out the clock.

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"It was a really special night," he said. "All those chants are really meaningful."

Rodgers didn’t carry an American flag during pregame introductions like he did last year. Instead, he carried the early-season hopes of a championship-starved franchise and delivered. Rodgers was 27-of-35 for 281 passing yards and two touchdowns. He completed eight of his first nine passes to six different receivers. 

And he would have passed on carrying a flag this time, he said.

"I felt a really good calm about (the game) honestly. I didn't think a whole lot about it," the 40-year-old said. "Obviously, it was emotional to come back home for the first time since then, but I really think the first week kind of took a lot of the fears and anxiety of playing out. And (Thursday), I felt like I played pretty free.

"If the expectation is winning, then we're going to celebrate it, but we should expect a win. The next step is expecting to dominate."

On the first play of the second quarter, he saw pressure from the Patriots' defense and escaped the pocket left to find wideout Allen Lazard, who broke away for an explosive 27-yard gain. According to Next Gen Stats, Rodgers was 5-of-5 for 62 yards and a TD when throwing on the run at more than 8 mph.

Rodgers knew that extending plays was something he'd have to gradually ramp up as he readjusted to the game speed of the NFL. He felt good from warmups through regulation Thursday.

"It felt like I was myself from quite a few years ago," he said.

Head coach Robert Saleh said the mobility Rodgers displayed during training camp was on display for the national television audience.

“He may not be what he used to be, but he still has plenty in his legs,” Saleh said. “His arm is still 30 and his mind is still operating at a high level, but he was definitely impressive.”

Lazard scored the game’s first touchdown by beating Pats cornerback Marcus Jones with a move at the line of scrimmage. Rodgers' former Green Bay Packers teammate wanted to give him the ball to commemorate his first touchdown at home as a New York Jet, and Lazard immediately ran the pigskin to Rodgers once he crossed the goal line.

Lazard gifted Rodgers his game-worn No. 10 jersey. The receiver hung onto his gloves.

"That’s something I’ll show my grandkids," he said.  

Early, Rodgers was content to let his receivers do the work. He delivered them the ball at all different arm angles with velocity, including one sling on a slant to Garrett Wilson on a third-and-5 for a first down that put the Jets on the cusp of the red zone. He threw one side-arm pass to Hall, who picked up more yards after the catch. Hall punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to put the home team up 14-0 and cap off a drive that lasted 7:47. Rodgers and Saleh had an interaction on the sideline that social media ate up; after the game, the two brushed aside any controversy.

By halftime, the Jets had 17 first downs. They averaged 15.3 per game in 2023, when they were stuck on a carousel of Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian once Rodgers went down. The Jets outgained the Pats 252 yards to 40 in the opening 30 minutes, and Rodgers was 15-of-20 with 170 yards. New York ended the game with a 66.7% conversion rate on third down (10-for-15).

"Winning cures a lot of things," Lazard said.

There is room for improvement, of course. Rodgers and Wilson were clearly not on the same page regarding alignment and pre-snap motion on the series before halftime. They missed an open connection on an intermediate out-route and twice on back-shoulder throws, but Rodgers found Mike Williams early in the fourth quarter to set up a field goal. 

“Expect greatness, that’s the main thing, expect greatness,” Williams told USA TODAY Sports of working with Rodgers. “Got to know what you’re doing if you’re out there with (number) eight. He holds everyone accountable. … We got to be on our (stuff).”

The clearest sign of a new day for Gang Green came on the first drive of the second half. Once again, the Jets drove for more than seven minutes (7:10). Rodgers ran for another first down early in the series. He threw on the run to his right to Conklin for a first down. New York did need to burn a pair of timeouts on the drive, but Rodgers put kerosene on the blowout by sticking with Wilson and completing a dart to him on a route to the front pylon that beat New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who broke hard on the ball.

"We definitely feel like we left some plays out there and we still won by three (touchdowns), so I’m excited to get back to work and figure it out," Wilson said.

Wilson was then asked if he ever thought back to his first two years in the league when the Jets’ dismal offense was the primary reason the team went 7-10 in back-to-back years. 

“Yeah, I ain’t gonna fake it,” he said, laughing. “It’s a great opportunity for me and the whole receiver group, everyone that’s a skill position on offense, to have fun and play the game we love and score points and get up and down the field. That’s why we play this game. That’s why we play offense. It’s exciting.”

Later in the third, Rodgers rolled to his left, flipped his hips and completed a pass over the middle of the field to Conklin while taking a hit from Patriots cornerback Alex Austin. Rodgers responded by immediately popping up under Austin’s facemask. 

“It was cool to see him running around,” Hall said. “I honestly didn’t expect that.” 

The Jets hadn’t held a 21-point advantage over the Patriots since Oct. 15, 2000, in Bill Belichick’s first season coaching in New England. The Jets have also have have never had a quarterback like Rodgers. They finally found out how much fun that could lead to.

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