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Aaron Rodgers penalized for unnecessary roughness after throwing interception vs. Bills

Nick Profile Picby:Nick Geddes12/29/24

NickGeddesNews

Aaron Rodgers
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

You don’t always see a quarterback get flagged for unnecessary roughness. But it happened on Sunday and given the way the season has gone for the New York Jets (4-11), it’s hardly surprising that Aaron Rodgers was the culprit.

After Rodgers threw his second interception of the Week 17 road game against the Buffalo Bills (12-3), Rodgers shoved cornerback Christian Benford while he was well out of bounds.

Perhaps frustrations boiled over in that moment for Rodgers, who was expected to help New York snap its 13-year playoff drought when he was acquired from the Green Bay Packers (11-4) in March 2023. That is not happening, and Sunday’s drubbing at the hands of the Bills is further proof of how far away they are.

Buffalo jumped out to a 40-0 lead early in the fourth quarter, prompting interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich to remove the 41-year-old from the game. Tyrod Taylor is now under center to finish the game for the Jets. Rodgers completed 12-of-18 passes for just 112 yards before leaving the game.

Aaron Rodgers undecided on NFL future

The Jets will now have dropped 11 of their last 13 games following a 2-1 start to the season. Rodgers, meanwhile, has to make a decision if he wants to return next season or call it quits on his Hall of Fame career. Even if he does opt to play another season, there’s no guarantee it’s in New York, despite his desire to do so.

“I haven’t decided whether or not I want to play moving forward,” Rodgers said earlier this week on The Pat McAfee Show. “They haven’t decided, or maybe they haven’t told me what their plans are moving forward. I’m guessing they’re going to, you know, want to get a GM in here in the next few weeks, and then obviously, let the GM be a part of making that coaching selection with who they want to go with if they haven’t made a decision. 

“I mean, I think there’s a world where they just say, hey, you know, thank you. We’re going to go in every direction on January 6th, on AJs birthday and his favorite holiday. And then that’s a possibility. I think there’s also a possibility we’re going to wait and see who the new staff is.”