Aaron Rodgers’ new teammates ‘starstruck’: Jets’ young players explain what it’s like with new QB, per report

New Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been making the rounds in his new city of New York, and taking in some of the successes of the other sports clubs in the Big Apple. He was seen at a New York Knicks vs. Miami Heat conference semifinals matchup, and New York Rangers vs. New Jersey Devils postseason matchup. As you can imagine, Rodgers has been greeted by massive cheers everywhere he’s gone since his change of scenery request was granted by the Green Bay Packers just a couple weeks ago. 

Rodgers’ new teammates are enjoying the process of welcoming a future Hall of Famer as well. Linebacker Quincy Williams even admitted that he was “starstruck” seeing Rodgers on the practice field for the first time, per ESPN, and he wasn’t alone.

“This is something 20 years from now, 30 years from now, I’ll tell my kids: ‘I played with Aaron Rodgers,'” reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. 

Reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year cornerback Sauce Gardner sat next to Rodgers at the Knicks game on Tuesday night, and felt the power of Rodgers’ celebrity. 

“Everybody knew who he was,” Gardner said. “I was able to be in his shadow a little bit. It was a great feeling.” 

“He was picking on me for being young. We were getting seated, and he was like, ‘We’re about to sit by Jessica Alba.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t know who that is.’ He looked at me like I’m crazy.”

With an addition like Rodgers, the expectations for the Jets in 2023 are very high. The Jets as a team have been on the come-up for a couple seasons now, but haven’t been able to get consistent play from the most important position in football. Fans are hoping Rodgers is that missing piece. 

“We’re a really, really young team, especially on offense,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said, via PFT. “And just to watch him and [offensive coordinator] Nathaniel [Hackett] and the way they communicate together and he’s already made his presence felt with regards to meetings and input, just discussions on all of the different things we’re trying to get accomplished on offense, so he’s a tremendous human, first and foremost, Aaron is. Just listening, there is little, subtle things I’m not going to get into, but he definitely cares about people and you can tell in the way he speaks to people, so really fortunate that he’s here.”