The next time Aaron Rodgers will suit up for the New York Jets will be Week 1 of the regular season.
Head coach Robert Saleh announced Thursday Rodgers and the rest of the Jets’ starters will sit out their final preseason game against the New York Giants Saturday.
The 40-year-old quarterback said Tuesday he didn’t “really have a preference” whether he plays in the preseason finale.
“I feel good about where I’m at with my body and what I’ve put together,” Rodgers said.
With Saleh’s decision, none of the Jets’ projected starters will have played in any of the preseason games. Last season, Rodgers and the starters played two series during preseason games.
Earlier this week, Rodgers said Saleh told him the starters had gotten about 300 more snaps than they did at this time last year.
“This year, we’ve had three different scrimmages,” Saleh said, “and I feel like the amount of work we got in has been very productive.”
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The Jets had joint practices with the Washington Commanders, Carolina Panthers and the Giants during training camp.
The four-time NFL MVP said this training camp was “much harder this year and maybe the hardest in the last seven or eight of my career.”
Saleh’s decision to sit his starters this preseason had nothing to do with the fear of players getting hurt, he said.
“You can get hurt at practice,” he said. “You can get hurt brushing your teeth, for crying out loud. This has everything to do with whether or not we’re preparing ourselves properly and not just looking at checking the old coach’s box, ‘Ah, I feel good about it. We got to go play.’
“Does it really help us in Week 1? We’ve played them in the past, and this whole offseason we’ve taken a different approach to how we’re preparing our guys for Week 1. And hopefully it pans out.”
Rodgers isn’t the only quarterback who won’t play against the Giants on Saturday. Backup Tyrod Taylor will also sit. Last season’s UFL MVP, Adrian Martinez, will get the start, and fellow rookie Andrew Peasley will play in the second half.
The first time Rodgers and the Jets’ starters will see game action will be in their Week 1 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers Sept. 9.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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