Aaron Rodgers, While Pondering the Future, Praises Fashanu and ...

Each week brings the next weekly Aaron Rodgers midweek news conference, and thus a slightly different take on what next season may hold for the 41-year-old, 20-year-veteran, future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Rodgers fielded a few more questions about his longer-term future, offering nothing more definitive about his hopes and plans. "Yeah, it's possible," he said about feeling better next year about playing than he does even now, a little more than 15 months after his Achilles injury to start last season. "I might be sitting on a beach, though."

But Rodgers knows what his short-term future depends on, part of which is the offense around him. The wideouts, yes, the backs, the tight ends. And the offensive line.

"I think they've been really consistent," he said of his guardians and the Jets' first line of offense, adding about the win over the Jaguars, "That was probably their best pass-blocking game they had all season. I had as much time as I've had all year in and out of the pocket, barely took any shots, kind of ran into one sack in the red zone, and other than that it was a pretty clean game. So that's always nice for me."

The Jets' O-line has been a lightning rod for several seasons now, and it hasn't always gone smoothly for Rodgers' 14 starts this year. But the current quintet, from RT Morgan Moses through first-round rookie Olu Fashanu taking over LT for the past month, finally seems to be settling in.

"I think a key for any offensive line to be effective is health," Rodgers said. "And I think for the most part, John [Simpson at LG] being healthy and Tipp [C Joe Tippmann] being healthy and AVT [RG Alijah Vera-Tucker], the middle has been really good. Mo's battled through a couple of injuries, and obviously Tyron's out. But Olu's played a couple of positions for us and done well."

The numbers don't automatically make it true, but this year's line has produced some metrics that suggest they have moved in the right direction. Healthwise, only Tippmann has started every game and played all 870 snaps, but the unit, in large part because Fashanu has played three positions, including 37 emergency snaps at RG in the win over the Texans, has returned to some semblance of OL health. Only seven different players have gotten starts on the line this season, the fewest through 14 games since the 2018 team also started seven different linemen.

"I think the kids are ready to play these days a lot earlier, and I think he was ready to play," Rodgers said, building toward a glowing report on Fashanu. "He was working as a swing guy and then he played some guard, which was totally out of character. But all along, and like I said in training camp, I think he's a decade-plus type of left tackle. We knew he was kind of the guy in waiting behind Tyron. Tyron got hurt, he stepped in. He's played really well."

And Rodgers, very much a people-and-personality person, has enjoyed watching Fashanu show his human side along with his tackle skills the past four starts on the left side.

"You've seen his personality come out as he's played better and playing the way he feels like he's capable of playing, which is fun," the QB said. "You see some trash talking — which for him is basically speaking at all because he's so quiet. But I like to see that. He's a great kid, and he cares about it. He puts in the time, and he's been playing really well, and he went up against a couple good pass rushers and and held his own."

Fashanu's not alone, of course. The line has led the way for Rodgers' 339 passing yards at Miami and 289 at Jacksonville — his most yards in back-to-back games since he threw for his last three 300-yarders as a Packer in 2021. It has played a pivotal role in the Jets reaching back-to-back games of 400-plus yards of offense for the first time since '22.

And the OL will have a lot to say about Rodgers' continued good health and production against the Jets' three tough closing opponents, the Rams on Sunday, at the Bills then home for the season finale vs. the Dolphins. As good as all three of those foes can be, their defenses all rank 20th or lower in number of sacks of enemy QBs this season.

So there is a good chance for that line to help Rodgers sail healthily into the unknowns of the upcoming offseason.

"I'm 41 years old and I've played a lot of good football over the years," he said. "The game has given me a lot and I've given the game a lot. And whatever happens after this, I feel real good about what I accomplished and the people I got to be around."

Especially those big dudes in front of him who can help make these last three games of '24 as enjoyable as they can be before another Rodgers darkness retreat begins.