NFL Training Camp 2023: Aaron Rodgers Hints at Future with Jets Ahead of HOF Game

Now we're getting into it.

For some NFL teams, Tuesday marked the first day of padded practices. No more jogging around in shorts and shells—it's time to suit up and start hitting people (gently). That's understandable—we're just five weeks from the beginning of the regular season and just a couple of days from the beginning of the preseason.

That first game of the preseason (as it always does) takes place in Canton, Ohio. This year, the "hometown" Cleveland Browns will square off against the new-look New York Jets in the Hall of Fame Game.

Now, you aren't going to see much (if any) stars like running back Nick Chubb and edge-rusher Myles Garrett of the Browns or defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Jets.

That last one is going to take some getting used to.

But just because Rodgers won't be playing in the Hall of Fame Game didn't stop him from making news Tuesday—news that should make Jets fans quite happy.

It's there we'll begin Tuesday's look at the latest developments from training camps around the NFL.

While speaking to Pro Football Talk recently (via Fox Sports), New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that starting a new chapter of his career at 39 years old has rejuvenated him.

"Now I've gotten this opportunity at 39 to kind of reinvent myself, figure out who I wanna be in a new environment," Rodgers continued. "To have some of the conversations I've had with Joe Douglas, to be privy to things that I was never privy to, to have a defensive head coach puts a different framework on the team. The defense has a different confidence, I think, that they practice with. We had great defenses in Green Bay during our time. But it always felt like an offensive team, or a West Coast offensive football team. Just a different mentality when you have a defensive head coach. I've enjoyed that."

Apparently, he's enjoyed it so much that he's considering playing quite a while longer.

Given that players have to be retired for at least five years for consideration for Canton, that means Rodgers plans to play past his current contract—three or four more years.

And that many more seasons of Rodgers would be enough to have Jets fans doing cartwheels—especially if he can play at close to the level of the player who was the NFL's MVP as recently as 2020 and 2021.

The biggest question facing the San Francisco 49ers continues to be the quarterback position. But while making an appearance on KNBR's Murph & Mac show, second-year signal-caller Brock Purdy maintained his rehab from UCL surgery is on track and he plans to be full-go for the season opener.

"There was a plan in place for me to get better every single day, every single week, going all the way back to my surgery, post-surgery," Purdy said, via David Bonilla of 49ers Webzone. "And so, it just aligned right, that up until training camp, I'd be hopefully ready and cleared. So, there's a plan where I go two days on, a day off, two days on, a day off, just give my arm some rest, but also create some volume and stamina. So that's just what the plan is. That's where we're at. Going into it, I didn't know exactly what it was going to look like, but here we are, and we're excited about it."

Purdy also said he expects to have a much better command of Kyle Shanahan's offense in 2023.

"Just from last year until now, it's like just a huge jump in terms of knowing the playbook and where my answers are, where I got to go with the ball and stuff like that," Purdy said. "So, I'm still learning and growing. I got to get back, knock off all that rust, too, being back now. But mentally, feel like I'm in a great spot compared to last year."

There's still a long way to go until the Niners visit Pittsburgh in Week 1. But with each passing practice, it looks more likely that Purdy will be under center when they do.

The Washington Commanders have significant expectations for second-year quarterback Sam Howell in 2023. In the opinion of Howell's No. 1 wide receiver at least, Howell has a good chance of meeting those expectations.

Per Zach Selby of the team's website, wideout Terry McLaurin has been impressed by what he's seen from Howell this offseason.

"It's going well," McLaurin said after practice. "He's gonna give guys a chance to make the play down the field, and he throws a really nice deep ball. So, he's growing. I like how he's doing and how he's communicating with us as well. As we've gone over the course of this offseason, we've thrown together, we've gotten some reps out here. I think one thing that strikes me with him is we have a nuanced connection."

Howell has just one NFL start under his belt, completing 57.9 percent of his passes for 169 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a Week 18 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

There were reports that both Howell and Jacoby Brissett had gotten off to a rocky start to camp. But in McLaurin's opinion at least, Howell seems to be smoothing things out.

It's been a rocky offseason for Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams. After missing most of his rookie season while recovering from an ACL tear, Williams was suspended six games for violating the NFL's gambling policy. He also missed time early in camp with an injured hamstring.

But as Dave Birkett reported for the Detroit Free Press, Williams is back on the practice field—and he's turning heads in the process.

"I don't know about y'all, but he's one of the best receivers in the game right now," safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson said. "You got to give him his flowers, and if you don't, we'll see when he gets off what he got—God forbid what happens, but that's his situation, not talking about it. But working out with him every day, Jamo's ready. Don't worry about it. He ready."

As it turns out, that just so happens to be Williams' aspiration—to be the best in the game at what he does.

"A lot of people ain't got a chance to see me play," he said. "I played six games last year, got to miss six this year so I'm just hoping to go put a show on with me and my team, showing that we can do this."

The Lions already have one of the better young wideouts in the game in Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Adding Williams to the mix is just going to make the Detroit passing game that much more dangerous.

The New York Jets got a scare earlier this week when reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson went down with an ankle injury. But at the time, head coach Robert Saleh told reporters that it appeared the injury wasn't serious.

"We were just checking out his ankle," Saleh said. "All indications are that he'll be OK. We're just going through procedure."

As it turns out, it appears Saleh was right. Dennis Waszak Jr. of the Associated Press tweeted Tuesday that Saleh said Wilson is expected back at practice this weekend.

To say that's good news for the Jets is an understatement. Wilson, who reeled in 83 passes for 1,103 yards last year on the way to winning OROY honors, is far and away the team's best wide receiver. Big things are expected from Wilson and Aaron Rodgers in 2023.

The more reps that duo can spend building a rapport, the better.

Noticing a theme yet? Apparently, it's wide receivers day!

The New York Giants aren't exactly a team known for having an imposing group at the position. But New York wideout Darius Slayton told Fox Sports he believes that he Isaiah Hodgins, Parris Campbell and company are being slept on as a unit.

"If you don't have the names—the famous names—people don't think you have talent in your room," Slayton said. "But whether or not you've got a million Instagram followers doesn't make you any less talented than somebody who does. I think it's just a matter of production. I have to go out there and put up the numbers to be in that conversation. I'm aware of that. But I know I have the ability to do it. We know we have something to prove. And we intend to go out and prove it."

To be fair, the Giants' passing attack didn't exactly light it up last year—New York ranked 26th in the league with 185.7 passing yards per game, although that was without Campbell and tight end Darren Waller in the fold.

Given the high-octane offenses in Philadelphia and Dallas, the Giants need to get more from the passing attack to keep pace in the NFC East.

And that means at least one (if not more) of these wideouts are going to have to step up in 2023.

The Seattle Seahawks already possessed one of the most dangerous wide receiver duos in the NFL in Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf. The Seahawks added to that arsenal early in the 2023 draft, using one of their first-round picks on Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

The positive drumbeat about Smith-Njigba's performance in Seattle in both OTAs and camp has been equal parts steady and loud. As Dan Graziano wrote for ESPN, Smith-Njigba hasn't looked the part of a rookie on the practice field.

"He looks like he's already been here for two, three years with the way he runs his routes and the way he's picked up the offense," Metcalf said. "Every day at practice, how he tracks balls and how he runs his routes, everything. I think he's going to be an exceptional player."

Smith-Njigba barely played last year as the result of a hamstring injury, but the year before he was one of the most prolific wide receivers in college football, hauling in 95 passes for over 1,600 yards.

If he's anywhere near the player in Seattle that he was in Columbus two years ago, the Seahawks could have one of the most dangerous passing games in the NFC in 2023.

It's been a long time since Michael Thomas of the New Orleans Saints won Offensive Player of the Year honors after catching an NFL-record 149 passes for 1,725 yards back in 2019. Since then, Thomas has played in just 10 games and barely cleared 600 receiving yards in three seasons combined.

However, while speaking to John DeShazier of the team's website, the 30-year-old expressed confidence that this could finally be the year he gets his career back on track.

"I feel like I'm trending in the right direction," Thomas said. "Taking every day one day at a time, trying to execute at a high level, come out here and make plays and move the chains for the offense, take great coaching, correct my mistakes in the meeting room and just come out here and add value.

"I'm always chasing perfection and trying to win every rep," he continued. "I'm a competitor. I don't prepare to lose, I prepare to execute and make the play. It's a process, a learning process, but the good thing about the Saints is we have a lot of great competition on the other side of the ball. So, I feel like it won't take long, but you've got to get in the groove, you've got to get some things down. But with the coaching and the players I'm surrounded by, I'm not really worried. I'm just taking it one day at a time."

Every practice that Thomas makes it through healthy is something of a small victory. And if he can stay on the field and provide anything resembling the gaudy numbers he posted earlier in his career, he and youngster Chris Olave would provide Derek Carr and the Saints with a formidable duo at the position.

It has been a rocky NFL career to date for New York Jets offensive tackle Mekhi Becton. There have been multiple injuries and a clash with coaching staff over a move to right tackle.

However, as ESPN's Rich Cimini reported, Becton has apparently come to camp this year looking to mend fences.

As if that's not good news enough, head coach Robert Saleh told reporters that he thinks Becton is learning to trust his surgically repaired knee more.

"He's been able to finish all the way through and he's getting stronger on that knee," Saleh said, via the team's website. "I think he's getting more confidence in it. The big thing for him is rather than rush to be a first-teamer, let's rush and see us get through a game and have that ability to finish a game, a practice, a week. There's no denying his talent, but right now it's about building confidence, building strength, the endurance. Once all that comes, then we'll take the next step and see how he can perform with the 1s and all that."

For all the hoopla surrounding the Jets this year, the offensive line remains a question—especially at tackle. Getting a healthy Becton to play at anything close to the level the Jets hoped when they drafted him 11th overall in 2020 would be a massive (so-to-speak) plus for the team.

Not that long ago, Desmond Ridder said on NFL Live that he was eager to work on building chemistry with wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts—on doing what it takes to show that he can be the quarterback of the future for the Falcons.

"The easiest thing for me is just putting it where they can get it," Ridder said. "They're two monsters outside of the ball. Just put it in their vicinity and they're able to go up and get it. The hardest thing would probably be missing, just because they're so big and they can cover a wide range of area. So, you know, it's hard to miss them."

Ridder appears to have the confidence of the person who matters most—team owner Arthur Blank.

Ridder's numbers in four starts last year were modest—177 passing yards per game, two touchdown passes and a passer rating of 86.4. But for what it's worth, the former Cincinnati standout was Bleacher Report's highest-ranked quarterback in the class of 2022. And Atlanta won two of those four starts.

Whether Blank's confidence will hold if the losses start piling up is another matter altogether. But for now, at least, it's all smiles in The A.

Most of the recent speculation regarding free-agent running backs of late has centered on Dalvin Cook. But there's another veteran runner in the news Tuesday.

After Ronald Jones drew a two-game PED suspension, a hole opened up in the depth chart in Dallas—especially with Tony Pollard returning from a major injury. And while making a weekly radio appearance, team owner Jerry Jones wouldn't rule out bringing back a familiar face.

Ezekiel Elliott.

"We're reading the tea leaves," Jones said. "And so, the events like yesterday, the suspension that's involved, you can have injuries of varying degrees, and then you have the thing that everybody thinks of, and that's how does it look?"

"You got the pads on yesterday for the first time," Jones continued. "It's hard to appreciate Zeke without pads, because that is his game. And when you put that pad on and you realize the collisions that can happen for you, just his protection and blocking, then all of a sudden you start thinking about the kind of things you'll ought to be thinking about when you're evaluating at camp."

Who says you can't go home again?

Actually, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy implied that Elliott can't by saying he wants to develop the young running backs on the roster.

The Green Bay Packers are beginning a new era this year with Jordan Love as their quarterback, and in an effort to help them adjust to this changing reality, head coach Matt LaFleur invited a guest to address the team that knows a few things about playing quarterback in the NFL.

Per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, having Peyton Manning address the Packers may not seem like that big a deal—but it was a conversation that could pay dividends down the road.

"It was great," LaFleur said. "He addressed our team [about] the lessons he learned, especially as a young player, how to respond to adversity, the great teams he was on, his approach to the game. I thought it was super beneficial. You're talking about one of the all-time greats."

The reality is that one conversation isn't going to help Love throw on-target passes. Or make the right read. Or avoid blitzes. But Manning knows just about everything there is to know about playing quarterback. He has experienced the highs of winning a pair of Super Bowls. And the lows of a three-win rookie season in which he threw 28 interceptions.

Any wisdom he can pass along to Love and the Packers can't hurt.

The 2022 season was admittedly a disaster for both Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos—something that new head coach Sean Payton caused quite a stir about earlier this week with his, um, assessment of what went wrong.

On Tuesday, Payton offered an assessment of Wilson's progress in camp so far—and it was quite a bit more positive.

"It's hard because there were a lot of other factors a year ago," Payton told reporters. "We are really focused on what he is doing within the offense. Obviously, he is moving around well, his weight is down, he is in really good shape and he's working really hard. There are a lot of nuances still we are working through. There were some good things in the running game today. Each day, you kind of look at the film and you start again with the corrections. I have been pleased with his progress and where he is at dating back to the offseason and to where we are now into our first full week."

It's already been a rough camp for the Broncos with news that Tim Patrick will miss the season with a torn Achilles. Some good news regarding the quarterback the team mortgaged its future for a year ago is welcome indeed.

Because the reality is that the 2023 Broncos will go as far as Wilson takes them.