Connor McGovern has started in each of his 48 appearances with the Jets over the past three seasons, and the veteran center will be snapping the ball again to new teammate Aaron Rodgers in the season opener Monday night against the Bills.
Entering his fourth season with the team, McGovern credits GM Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh for revamping a roster that finished 2-14 in 2020 and 4-13 the following year.
“It’s been a complete 180. There’s been some good players that have left, but also they’ve done a really good job of getting rid of the bad apples,” McGovern said Monday. “There’s not, I don’t know what you want to call it, a cancer, a bad apple or somebody rotting the bucket in the locker room. Every single player in the locker room is a good person and a great football player. I think that’s extremely important. And then to add to that, everyone is so talented.
“When I first got here, we were young, we had some talent here and there, we had some guys that were leaving and coming and going. And what Joe Douglas and Saleh and their teams have done to get this locker room to where it is now is remarkable.”
The Jets finished 7-10 last year, but they boasted the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL — and the offensive and defensive rookies of the year in top-10 draft picks Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner — before landing Rodgers and several other key pieces this offseason.
McGovern will center an offensive line with some shifting pieces this season, especially to his right with former first-round picks Alijah Vera-Tucker and Mekhi Becton starting at right guard and right tackle, respectively.
Left tackle Duane Brown also returns following offseason shoulder surgery, with Laken Tomlinson at left guard.
“I’m happy to be a part of it. We had some struggles early in my career here, but now going into Year 4, it’s the most ironed-out team I’ve ever been a part of in my entire seven-year [NFL] career,” McGovern said. “So I’m really excited.
“It’s just a testament, and I’ve said it as many times as I can in every interview I can, I believe in the leadership in this building, the front office, the coaches, because they are doing the right things to turn this organization around and make it a premier, top organization.”