Offensive line would have allowed some hard knocks on Aaron Rodgers if Jets-Panthers joint practice was a real game

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – It’s been easy to get caught up in the Aaron Rodgers Wave of Euphoria these last few months, watching the quarterback go about his business of transforming these Jets into instant contenders.

All those slo-mo spirals that soar across timelines and televisions make it seem as if there is nothing that can stand in between this franchise and the goal it has long dared to dream. Pairing Rodgers with the young offensive talent the Jets already had on board such as Garrett Wilson and an eventually healthy Breece Hall along with fellow imported veterans Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Mecole Hardman make the front office’s plans nearly foolproof.

But there always has been a sneaky little caveat that could easily alter the delicate balance of the vision and upset those audacious thoughts. If the Jets’ offensive line cannot adequately protect Rodgers, he stands little chance of playing at the four-time MVP level upon which the Jets are counting.

Simply put: If the O-line can’t handle its task, Rodgers can’t be Rodgers.

On Wednesday, in the first of two joint practices against the Panthers, that wrinkle reminded everyone of its existence.

Rodgers was under near-constant duress in the 11-on-11 drills, routinely flushed from the pocket, fending off defenders in his face and trying to run the offense amidst the chaos that ensues from a lack of coherent play up front.

"We didn’t have the same type of energy for whatever reason,” a not-so-jolly Rodgers said of the intensity compared with what the Panthers brought.

He said there were some good things that the Jets did, including the way they were able to run the ball, but when it came to protecting him, he said there were “some issues.”

That was particularly the case early on. On Rodgers’ first 10 dropbacks over the course of three different 11-on-11 practice segments, he would have been sacked four times, threw one pass with a defensive lineman in his face that certainly would have been altered had the Panthers been allowed to hit him , and had one other pass batted down.

Things got a little better in the second half of the workout as he was given a little more time to throw, but as practice wrapped up the Jets offense was in a two-minute drill needing to drive the field. They went three-and-out, the last two of them with Rodgers running out of a collapsed pocket before throwing incompletions.

Not only a poor result but an inefficient one considering the Jets traveled all this way to get as many live reps against an opponent as they could. With the theoretical game on the line, they wound up getting just three.

“I sense frustration from everybody,” center Connor McGovern said. “Everyone on the O-line, Aaron, the coaches. I mean, you can’t go three-and-out in a two-minute drive like that… I think there was a disappointment from the whole team.”

There obviously wasn’t a whole lot of game-planning up front and the Panthers play a different style than the one the Jets have faced from their own defense throughout this camp. And the line that started on Wednesday probably won’t be the one that takes the field in the opener. Projected left tackle Duane Brown is still on PUP, but Robert Saleh said he should be back “soon." And there are other moves that might be made. Billy Turner and Max Mitchell have been manning the tackles for most of the summer.

“We gotta figure out who the first five is going to be,” Rodgers said. “We’re just looking for consistency with those guys… We need a little more consistency on the edge.”

It wasn’t there on Wednesday and there were times when Rodgers seemed visibly upset about it, clapping his hands in dismay and waving his arms. Training camp began with talk of how patient Rodgers was being with a team that was just starting to learn his offense and his playing style. Now, with roughly a month before they face the Bills, he seems to be showing a different level of urgency.

“I can see that changing, yeah,” wide receiver Corey Davis said. “He’s been real patient and real lenient with us making sure that we get everything down, which is what we need. But I can imagine that going the other way if it doesn’t pick up.”

Rodgers is a slick quarterback who can move deftly in the pocket and find various throwing slots with his arm angles, so his protection doesn’t have to be perfect. But it has to be functional. He is, after all, a soon-to-be 40-year-old who is coming off a subpar season most attribute to his playing with a thumb injury. The ability of the Jets to keep him upright as much as possible cannot be overstated as a significant part of the puzzle these Jets are assembling.

It couldn’t help but become even more glaring after Wednesday.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.