They say that history repeats itself. If that happens, given Aaron Rodgers‘ last full-season performance, the New York Jets might have to be more than just prepared for the upcoming season. Consequently, these speculations and uncertainties have resulted in a lot of pressure on the Jets and their veteran A-Rod.  While NFL fans don’t want to see him end up badly again, the past has constantly shown that injured players making a comeback don’t have as big of an impact as usually expected.

The Jets DE Solomon Thomas is hyped to play around Aaron Rodgers. With heaps of praises that Rodgers is getting, it won’t be surprising if he gets an outrageous one. Well, Solomon Thomas thinks playing with Rodgers is like playing with Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. But Chris Broussard of First Things First corrected the narrative that Rodgers is more like Kevin Durant during his subpar years.

“Michael [Jordan] and Kobe [Bryant] won, consistently alright. 6 rings [Jordan] -5 rings [Bryant]” said Broussard pointing out Rodgers’ lone Super Bowl championship. “Aaron Rodgers also has his moments, particularly in conference championship games where he hasn’t shown up. You can’t say that consistently about Kobe and Michael. So, I think a more appropriate one would have been Kevin Durant. Kevin got his rings, so he’s a champion and he’s an all-time great but he’s also had some moments,”

When Durant was with the Golden State Warriors, they won 2 Championships in a row (2016 and 2017 seasons). He had a rib fracture in March 2018 and things started going downhill from there. Durant’s championship runs stopped and he couldn’t make it past Conference Semifinals post 2018-19 season.

Take Rodgers Super Bowl winning season as case study here. He won the Super Bowl in 2011, and for the next 6 years straight went to the playoffs and kept losing. He kept getting bruised and battered throughout his career and has 14 separate cases of injuries recorded against him. Now that Aaron Rodgers is coming off of a gruesome injury, his chances don’t look that great.

Let’s apply this basketball anecdote to football. Odell Beckham Jr. fractured his ankle in week 4 against the Chargers in the 2017 season. He wasn’t the same when he returned. Yes, he helped the Rams win a Super Bowl in the 2021 season. However, he just played 8 games that season. He put up 305 yards and 5 touchdowns in his Super Bowl winning season.

Beckham missed the 2022 season entirely and came back to play with the Ravens in the last season. Though he played 14 games last season, he failed to put up massive numbers. Now, he’s a gun for hire and is taking 1-year deals to bide his time as he is currently venturing the halls of Miami camp. There are countless examples of other players who have gone through the same trajectory.

The point is, we haven’t seen Rodgers play yet. He might or might not play in the preseason this year. This air of uncertainty has stirred doubts among fans and experts, even Rodgers’ approach to the off-season training was not taken well by a couple of analysts. Despite judgment surrounding veteran QB, his Jets tackle Solomon Thomas believes in the authority A-Rod brings to the squad.

Solomon Thomas praises Aaron Rodgers, and calls him “one of a kind”

It’s Thomas’ third season with the New York Jets and he missed out on playing with Rodgers last season due to evident reasons. Nonetheless, the 28-year-old has been taking a liking to how the 4x MVP is handling himself during the training camp and believs that Rodgers is “one of a kind.”

“I talk to my friends back home all the time, it’s like playing with a MJ [Michael Jordan] or Kobe [Bryant]. It really is like one-of-a-kind. I feel blessed to be around him. I feel blessed to be a part of this team,” said Thomas after training camp practice in Florham Park. “He’s the best in the game. I mean, the adjustments he makes at the line of scrimmage is crazy. What he sees, what he hears, what he notices, how aware he is. You haven’t seen it.”

The praises are understandable given Rodgers’ legacy and impact on the game. However, the legend that NFL fans recognize is a tad bit different from the current Rodgers, and his recent run with his receiver Garrett Wilson is proof of the same. The QB-WR duo is not on the same wavelength. In fact, Rodgers is having trouble keeping up with Wilson’s speed. Good thing is, the Jets defense is top notch, which might buy Rodgers some time to improve and not suffer the same fate as Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose and even OBJ. Do you think Rodgers will ball out this year?