Aaron Rodgers knows all eyes are on him. That’s nothing new for the four-time NFL MVP. But the 40-year-old New York Jets quarterback enters this season, his 20th in the league, with plenty to prove after missing all but four snaps last year because of a torn Achilles tendon.
“I think if I don’t do what I know I’m capable of doing, we’re all probably going to be out of here,” Rodgers said of the lofty expectations on him and the Jets, who are trying to end the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 13 seasons.
“I like that kind of pressure, though,” he said. “It’s a tough market to play in, it’s not for everybody. I relish that opportunity, but that’s the way the NFL is.”
He certainly isn’t alone in the spotlight as training camps open.
Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson, San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey, Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson, Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence and Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley are among a handful of NFL stars with something to prove because of injuries, mediocre play, or needing to justify big contracts.
