Rex Ryan on facing Aaron Rodgers: ‘it’s tough to sleep this week’
The New York Jets and Green Bay Packers will square off tomorrow, and it will be interesting to see if the Packers high-upside offense can come alive this week against a secondary that looks weak on paper. Dee Milliner is listed probable on the injury report and will play after missing Week 1, but he will only be in a limited role behind Antonio Allen and Darrin Walls, who will continue to start. Allen and the Jets defensive backs looked impressive against the Oakland Raiders, but that’s partially because Greg Olson forced rookie Derek Carr to throw simple passes in an effort to keep him upright (the Raiders were overly concerned about Carr taking a mental shelling) against an aggressive Jets front seven.
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There’s no doubt that the Jets won’t be able to get away with that this week, because Aaron Rodgers is, in my opinion, the best quarterback in the NFL, and Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb are also two of the best in the business. The Jets are well-equipped to stop Eddie Lacy on the ground due to an elite run defense, but they will have to put pressure on Rodgers frequently, which is a manageable task (as the Seattle Seahawks showed us).
Jets head coach Rex Ryan took the time to praise Rodgers’s uniquely elite blend of physical and mental tools, via the New York Post’s Brian Costello, “He’s a smart player. He knows where to go with the football. He is accurate. He’s got a great arm. And then he’s got the mobility and the escapability. So yeah, it’s tough to sleep this week as a coach.”
On paper, the Packers wide receivers are better in just about every matchup, and their ability to move across the formation horizontally in a hurry-up offense should scare the Jets. It will be interesting to see how Calvin Pryor does back there against one of the league’s best offenses, because this will be a good test for the physically gifted Louisville Cardinals rookie.