Aaron Rodgers has kept in contact with some of his former Jets teammates
Garrett Wilson isn’t one of them.
“I ain’t talked to Aaron since he left, so wish him the best this season,” the Jets wide receiver said. “Yeah, but we ain’t chopped it up since he left.”
Rodgers and Wilson will both be in the same building at MetLife Stadium when the Jets host the Steelers in the season opener on Sunday afternoon. Considering their frosty on-field relationship, it isn’t a surprise the two haven’t remained on speaking terms after Rodgers was officially released in March.
Despite Wilson registering a career-high 101 catches for 1,104 yards and seven touchdowns last season, he was never on the same page with Rodgers. The friction started during the 2024 training camp and remained throughout the entire season.
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Then, the Jets traded for one of Rodgers’ best friends and longtime Packers teammate, Davante Adams, midseason, which completely changed the Jets’ passing game. Adams became Rodgers’ favorite and was the most targeted receiver during the final 11 weeks of last season. Wilson was essentially relegated to Gang Green’s second option.
Wilson later had a sideline blowup during the Jets game against the Jaguars in December after it appeared he was frustrated with the lack of targets. His frustration continued the following week against the Rams when Wilson only had two receptions until late in the game, when he made four late-game catches when the Jets were down two scores.
“I’d like to be involved, love to make an impact on the game, but people see it differently,” Wilson said at the time. “That’s out of my control.”
There was speculation at one point that Wilson would request a trade, but it never came to that. Rodgers was released shortly after the Jets hired Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey as coach and general manager. Adams was also released following Rodgers’ departure, which once again made Wilson the Jets’ No. 1 receiver.
Wilson then signed a four-year, $130 million extension ahead of training camp. He has also reunited with Justin Fields, who was his quarterback and teammate at Ohio State for two seasons (2019-20).
“Obviously, I got the opportunity to play with a living legend in this game,” Wilson said about Rodgers. “Every day, I got to learn something. I tried to go about it the right way and always make sure I was being a sponge. I can’t even — it’s hard to put into words exactly what I took away from those experiences.
“Sitting next to him and hearing the way he talks about ball, I learned a lot as far as the way things went, that’s the game we play. When you put together a roster, when it came to Sundays, we didn’t play our best football and that’s what it was. But we have another opportunity to make right on that, starting on Sunday.”
Wilson will hope for a different result this season after the Jets finished 5-12 after having Super Bowl aspirations last season. The Jets are expected to place a lot of emphasis on running the ball. But Wilson will play a huge role in their offense under offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand.
When Glenn took over, he expressed his desire to get Wilson the ball “as much as possible.” Wilson is one of five players in NFL history to exceed 1,000 receiving yards and 80 receptions in each of his first three seasons. The other four are Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Michael Thomas and Odell Beckham Jr.
“I envision this offense being something that is every detailed,” Wilson said. “When I think of this offense, it is a lot of moving parts on it. With that, it’s got to be detailed. The players have to know exactly where the snap points are.
“I don’t want to give out too much info, but our identity is going to be, take what the defense gives us.”
