Everyone on One Jets Drive had to hold their breath for a few moments Saturday morning.
Aaron Rodgers, the future Hall of Fame quarterback who has given everyone in green a reason to dream big, came up limping and fired the ball to the turf.
Fortunately, he just had his foot stepped on. Rodgers didn’t even miss any practice time.
He returned to team drills to throw a pair of touchdown passes in red-zone drills.
“He’s all right,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “I saw it, I knew he was fine.”
Quarterbacks aren’t supposed to get touched, let alone hit, during practice.
But sometimes, it can’t be prevented.
“That’s 32 teams — that’s every single season,” Saleh said. “Stay off the quarterback. It’s why they wear red. But every once in a while, it happens.”
The near-injury emphasized the delicate balance this time of year between caution and getting in quality work.
It is something Saleh plans to talk to the team about prior to their joint practices with the Panthers Wednesday and Thursday in Spartanburg, S.C.
“I look at it like the NFL is a fraternity of brothers. They’re going to grab and scuffle, but let’s move on and get back to the next play,” the Jets’ coach said.
“At the very least, have respect for the people in front of you, whether it’s your teammate or not. Play clean, stay up and just compete to make a team.”
Projected starting left tackle Duane Brown is still a few weeks away from coming off the physically unable to perform list, according to Saleh. A starter in 12 games last year, the 38-year-old Brown had offseason surgery on his left shoulder.
“He’s still rehabbing, would love him out there right now,” Saleh said. “But it is a plus that he’s got so much experience in this league. He’s one of the few in the league, when you have that much experience, you can play without practice. He’s going through a lot of individuals on the side, he’s still getting a lot of work in.”
The plan is for receiver Garrett Wilson (low ankle sprain) to return to practice on a limited basis on Tuesday and take part in the joint practices with the Panthers the following two days.
