'Forward-thinking' Jets hold Aaron Rodgers out of rainy practice - ESPN

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets coach Robert Saleh woke up Thursday morning, looked outside at the rainy weather and decided to keep quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the sideline for a joint practice with the Washington Commanders.

And Rodgers apparently wasn't thrilled about it.

«He pushed back, he pushed back,» Saleh said after practice. «He wanted to go, but in the grand scheme of things, we're trying to keep forward-thinking with regard to Week 1.»

Rodgers, coming off Achilles surgery, watched the two-hour, rain-drenched practice from the sideline as Tyrod Taylor ran the Jets' starting offense. It was Rodgers' first missed practice in training camp.

On the surface, it's no big deal, but it's a lost opportunity — and the 40-year-old is running out of opportunities to prepare for the regular season, especially if he's held out of the preseason games. Saleh said Rodgers still has plenty of time to get ready for Sept. 9 against the San Francisco 49ers. This decision, he said, was based on the wet field conditions and the «heightened environment» of having to face another team instead of his own. Saleh concluded that it was an «unnecessary» risk to put him on the field.

«I just didn't want to expose him to it,» Saleh said. «If it was a game, if it was a [regular] practice, if it was clean outside, he would've practiced today. Call it overprotection, but it's just the decision I made.»

The Jets still have two joint practices remaining — one against the Carolina Panthers, one against the New York Giants. They open the preseason Saturday against the Commanders at MetLife Stadium.

Rodgers won't play in the first two preseason games, Saleh has said. The third game, against the Giants, appears to be up in the air. A week ago,