Jets' Aaron Rodgers rejects talk he has to 'bounce back' - ESPN

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 39, the oldest player in the NFL, and he's coming off the worst statistical season of his career. He's confident he will rebound, but he doesn't feel like he needs to prove anything.

«I'm not looking at this like I have to bounce back or do anything [special],» he said Thursday after practice. «I just have to play the way I know how to play. I've been working my ass off for the last six months to try to put a better product on the field than last year. And I expect to.»

Rodgers will make his long-anticipated Jets debut at home on Monday night against the Buffalo Bills, the three-time defending AFC East champions. After months of hype, fueled by «Hard Knocks» and Super Bowl talk from within the locker room, Rodgers & Co. finally get a chance to show everyone why they're so optimistic.

After 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers is starting a new chapter. His final season in Green Bay didn't go well. He missed the playoffs for the first time in four years, recorded a career-low Total QBR (41.3) and threw more interceptions (12) than any season since 2008, his first year as a starter.

Rodgers played with a broken thumb for much of the year and didn't have his go-to receiver, Davante Adams, who was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders. Now Rodgers is healthy and he has a talented supporting cast, led by wide receiver Garrett Wilson, the 2022 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

But there will be changes. Rodgers said he will streamline his elaborate set of hand signals and code words, just to make things easier for his new teammates.

«We've adjusted a lot of things,» he said. «We've adjusted signals I've used for years that are no longer in existence, so I'm