From the outside looking in, it appears that Aaron Rodgers and Zach Wilson had a great relationship this season with the New York Jets with Rodgers serving as a sort of mentor for Wilson. While it may have started out that way, it doesn’t sound like that’s what their relationship looked like toward the end of the season.
When Aaron Rodgers first joined the team, Zach Wilson spoke highly of Rodgers as a mentor, and the plan was for Wilson to sit behind Rodgers and learn from the future Hall of Famer. But when Rodgers suffered a season-ending injury, that reportedly changed everything – including the relationship between Rodgers and Wilson.
“This was supposed to be Wilson’s redshirt year, when the 24-year-old could sit back, watch and learn from his idol, then potentially salvage his career. In the offseason, Wilson called Rodgers ‘the big brother I never had.’ Rodgers helped Wilson regain his confidence, and Wilson was willing to sit and watch, but the dynamic between the two players changed after Rodgers’ injury,” Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini reported for The Athletic this week.
Wilson once considered Rodgers his idol, but The Athletic reports that those feelings “soured” over the course of the season after Rodgers barely spoke to him following his injury when Wilson was under the impression that he would still have mentorship from the future Hall of Famer as he was thrust into the starting role.
“Wilson told coaches and teammates he was under the impression he’d have a direct line to Rodgers, even after Rodgers tore his Achilles and flew home to California for surgery in the early stages of his rehab. Instead, Wilson barely heard from him,” The Athletic reported.
Obviously, this is a pretty horrible look for Aaron Rodgers, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.
https://twitter.com/bdhammond28/status/1752721715275428344?s=20
"Aaron Rodgers will be the best thing to happen to Zach Wilson's career"
Guess we can finally put that nonsense to bed. Aaron and his goon squad took a bad situation and added a fat helping of drama while fixing nothing. Shocker.
Get my guy ZW to a competent franchise I'm begging https://t.co/6fN5zyUkFx— Swany (@mattchew_swan) January 31, 2024
Aaron Rodgers let Zach Wilson down #JETS
— Dan Campbell worshiper (@HavemanWillem) January 31, 2024
Report: Zach Wilson’s Relationship With Aaron Rodgers ‘Soured’ Over Jets’ Season for Silliest Reasons
Aaron Rodgers gotta move on. @nyjets should cut bait https://t.co/8nmDzqyhaz— Hank Armentrout (@757VaHank) January 31, 2024
We’ll have to see if Rodgers or the Jets ever address this report.