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tRY IT NOWGarrett Wilson has not stayed in contact with his old teammate who is hovering so much around the Jets season opener.
Wilson caught 98 of his 101 receptions last year from Aaron Rodgers, who will start at quarterback for the Steelers and return to MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
But even off the field, the two no longer have a connection.
“I ain’t talked to Aaron since he left,” Wilson said after practice on Thursday. “I wish him the best this season. But we ain’t chopped it up since he left.”
Wilson seemed to grow frustrated with Rodgers last year, particularly after he became second fiddle when the Jets traded for Davante Adams, Rodgers’ longtime teammate when the two were with the Packers.
Adams was Rodgers’ most-targeted receiver over the final 11 weeks of the season. Wilson’s targets and production both decreased after the move, and he made some not-so-subtle public remarks about it.
“I’d like to be involved, love to make an impact on the game, but people see it differently,” Wilson said last December. “That’s out of my control.”
The Jets released Adams after the season, restoring Wilson as the team’s alpha receiver.
They then gave Wilson a four-year, $130 million extension as well.
Still, Wilson was complimentary about the chance to play with Rodgers.
“Obviously, I got the opportunity to play with a living legend in this game,” Wilson said. “For me, every day I got to learn something. I tried to go about it the right way and always make sure I was being a sponge. It’s hard to put into words exactly what I took away from those experiences, sitting next to him and hearing the way he talks about ball. I learned a lot.”
Rodgers’ two-year Jets tenure — including the first season all but washed out by a torn Achilles — was a complete flop.
It followed significant offseason hype and optimism, much of which was centered around a potentially game-changing duo of Rodgers and Wilson.
That duo failed to bring team success.
“As far as the way things went, that’s the game we play,” Wilson said. “When you put together a roster, a team, you gotta go out and play on Sundays. And when it came to Sundays, we didn’t play our best football. That’s what that was.”
With Rodgers replaced at quarterback this season by former Ohio State teammate Justin Fields — plus new head coach Aaron Glenn — Wilson believes the Jets are better equipped this time around to turn preseason optimism into tangible results.
“We were competitive as hell this offseason,” Wilson said. “The mindset of ‘OK, we’re playing a game, but we ain’t gotta turn it up a notch because we’ve been at this,’ that’s kind of the one thing that’s a little different.”