Aaron Rodgers throws four TD passes, leads Jets over Dolphins in possible finale with team
Aaron Rodgers of the Jets walks off the field at MetLife Stadium after defeating the Miami Dolphins 32-20 on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Credit: Errol Anderson
Aaron Rodgers walked off the MetLife Stadium field with longtime teammate Davante Adams and into an uncertain future.
Rodgers’ Hall of Fame career might have come to a close in the Jets’ season-ending 32-20 win over Miami on Sunday. It might have been his final game as a Jet regardless.
Rodgers, 41, hasn’t decided whether he wants to play a 21st NFL season. Even if he does, the Jets could opt to move on from him.
“I just need some time away to think about my future in the game and my future here,” Rodgers said. “If they want me to be part of the next phase or if they’re ready to move on, either way I’m thankful for my two years here.”
The season began with such hype and hope for the Jets. It ended well short of expectations and rife with drama, turnover and unfulfilled promise. They went 5-12 and will pick seventh in the draft.
Jets owner Woody Johnson took one question after the game and sounded thrilled that they ended with a win.
“Everybody thought this [season] was going to be unbelievable,” he said. “We didn’t live up to that early opinion of virtually everybody, but we ended up well. I don’t care about anything else, but a win at the end was good.”
Rodgers had a vintage game, throwing a season-high four touchdown passes. He also joined an elite quarterback fraternity, becoming the fifth NFL player to throw 500 TD passes. Rodgers, who has 503, joined Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and former Green Bay teammate Brett Favre.
Rodgers’ milestone touchdown pass was a 5-yarder to Tyler Conklin with 7:57 remaining in the second quarter.
Conklin gave Rodgers the ball. “I just asked him how much money he thinks I can get for this ball,” the tight end said. “He said a lot, and then I handed it to him.”
Rodgers was 23-for-36 for 274 yards with an interception.
If this was it for Rodgers, his last throw was a touchdown pass to Breece Hall. He finished the season with 3,897 yards passing and 28 touchdown passes. Both were the third most in a season in franchise history.
“I know I can still play,” Rodgers said. “I know I can still do the things I need to do to be successful. It just comes down to the desire on their side, and then ultimately my desire to play.”
Garrett Wilson and Adams also reached milestones.
Wilson had four catches for 51 yards and became the second Jet to catch 100 passes in a season. Brandon Marshall had 109 grabs in 2015.
Adams, acquired from Las Vegas in October, caught six passes for 88 yards and a touchdown and surpassed 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth consecutive season. Adams and Rodgers have connected for 83 touchdowns, playoffs included. That’s the third most for a quarterback-receiver duo in NFL history.
After the game, Adams made sure they connected again, waiting for Rodgers to complete an on-field interview. He said after everything they went through, “we owed it to each other” to leave the field together.
“With him being such a great friend to me,” Adams said, “I thought that made the most sense, us walking off together today.”
Rodgers said, “I actually thought about it today, I wanted to walk off with him, but I hadn’t actually mentioned anything to him . . . That meant a lot. He’s one of my best friends in the world and my best friend in the league currently playing, so that was cool.”
The Jets expected to make the playoffs and believed they would be one of the teams with a shot at playing in the Super Bowl.
The return of Rodgers, who tore his left Achilles tendon in Week 1 last year, plus the additions that seemed to shore up some holes gave the Jets confidence that their long playoff skid finally would end.
Instead, they endured arguably the most disappointing season in franchise history and fell short of the postseason for the 14th straight year.
“I put my heart in this,” Rodgers said. “I wanted it really bad. It didn’t work this year. We came up short.”
Now the Jets will undergo massive changes.
It started in October when Johnson fired Robert Saleh after Week 5. The Jets were 2-3. They went 3-9 under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich.
General manager Joe Douglas was dismissed during the Week 12 bye. Johnson wanted to begin the process of finding Douglas’ successor.
The Jets already have interviewed four candidates for the general manager position and two for their head-coaching job, and both searches should pick up this week. Now that the regular season is over, the Jets can interview candidates currently employed by NFL teams.
The new regime will have some difficult decisions to make, with Rodgers at the top of the list.
“I have a lot of love for this organization, and I hope it gets turned around,” Rodgers said. “If I’m back and part of it, then I’ll do everything in my power to get it turned around.”
Notes & quotes: The defense had four takeaways against Miami, two of them interceptions by safety Ashtyn Davis.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
