(East Rutherford) Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets practiced all summer to get to this moment.
This is also the case of Damar Hamlin.
When the Jets face the Buffalo Bills on Monday at MetLife Stadium, it will mark the next step in the careers of two players.
First, Rodgers will make his long-awaited regular-season debut with the Jets, who acquired the four-time NFL MVP from the Green Bay Packers in April.
“Something has happened almost every day and it just reminds me that I’m in the right place, where I’m supposed to be,” Rodgers said. I absolutely love what this opportunity has given me. »
Next, Hamlin is scheduled to play a regular-season game for the first time since suffering cardiac arrest and resuscitation, on the field, in Cincinnati on Jan. 2.
“It’s just amazing,” head coach Sean McDermott said of Hamlin’s return to play.
Hamlin broke into the Bills lineup as a backup, when many thought he would never play again.
Rodgers went from being “90% certain” to retire in February, to wanting to play more and saying he wanted it to be with the Jets. After a few months of speculation and negotiations, the Jets completed the transaction to get their hands on the 39-year-old quarterback.
Since then, expectations for the team with the longest active streak without making the playoffs have changed greatly. Even that some see the Jets as contenders for great honors.
“It’s obviously better than the other way around,” said the team’s head coach, Robert Saleh. You work hard to put yourself in a position where you have a real chance of achieving something. That being said, we haven’t accomplished anything yet, we need to do it. »
Monday’s game will also be running back Dalvin Cook’s first in a Jets uniform.
Cook spent the first six seasons of his career with the Minnesota Vikings, recording at least 1,100 rushing yards in each of the last four.
