The “Get Up” panelists weren’t the only ESPNers who tore into Aaron Rodgers and the sad state of the Jets on Monday.
Shannon Sharpe led the charge of the Rodgers pile-on during Monday’s installment of “First Take,” calling the 40-year-old quarterback “smug” and “condescending” — among other niceties — when discussing how much of the Jets’ struggles are on the four-time league MVP as the team’s once-promising season frefefalls.
“Let’s make it the trifecta because it couldn’t happen to a more smug, cavalier, condescending guy,” the Hall of Famer, 56, said, as covered by Awful Announcing.
“… Now, who else are you going to blame it on? You running out of people to fire and demote. You fired [now-ex-coach] Robert Saleh, you going to fire [Jeff] Ulrbich now, the interim head coach? You’ve demoted [offensive coordinator Nathaniel] Hackett, what are you going to do? Demote the new offensive coordinator? Who else you gonna trade for? Who else you gonna bring in?”
In addition to naming the dizzying stream of Jets personnel moves — the firing of Saleh after three-and-a-half seasons, the elevation of quarterbacks coach Todd Downing to play-caller and the stunning trade for wideout Davante Adams, to name a few — Sharpe reiterated comments made by Patriots nose tackle Davon Godchauxk, who said Rodgers is “not mobile at all” after New England’s 25-22 upset win Sunday.
“You heard what Godchalk said yesterday, this guy, I can chase him down,” Sharpe said.
Although Sharpe has called out Rodgers in the past, the criticism of this Jets team reached peak levels in the early morning hours Monday on ESPN, with Dan Orlovsky, Damien Woody, former Jets coach Rex Ryan and longtime Gang Green fan Mike Greenberg going scorched earth on the championship-starved franchise.
“The New York Jets of 2024 are one of the colossal failures in sports history,” Greenberg said on “Get Up.” “… The New York Jets turned over their entire franchise to him [Aaron Rodgers] and it got much, much worse.”
Rodgers arrived in New York with much fanfare in 2023 following a blockbuster trade with the Packers.
Though sidelined for the 2023 season due to an Achilles injury, the expectation was the Rodgers of his Green Bay glory days would emerge from the tunnels of MetLife Stadium and propel the Jets back to the playoffs.
