Aaron Rodgers insisted he left the New York Jets’ crushing loss to the Buffalo Bills prematurely in order to give Tyrod Taylor a chance to see the field.

On Sunday, the Jets were ripped apart by the Bills, leaving Highmark Stadium on the wrong end of a 40-14 drubbing. The result means the Jets fell to 4-12; their dismal record is a far cry from preseason predictions that had the AFC East franchise going to the Super Bowl.

Against the Bills, Rodgers was 12-18 for 112 yards and two interceptions, one of which saw him also concede an unnecessary roughness penalty on the return which even had the referees laughing. He also conceded a safety and became the most-sacked quarterback in NFL history, surpassing Tom Brady.

When the Jets were 40-0 down, head coach Jeff Ulbrich turned to Taylor. While many speculated that Rodgers had quit on his team during the drubbing and the move wasn’t planned, it turns out the four-time MVP was willing to exit.

“It was 33-0 and I said at some point, you wanna go to Tyrod here?” Rodgers revealed. “The next play they threw a screen for a touchdown and it was 40-0.”

For the Jets, the 2024 NFL season has represented a colossal failure of a campaign. Rodgers added: “The season just got away from us, too many games got away from us, this game got away from us.”

Taylor was surprised to hear his name called in the fourth quarter: “I don’t know what led to the decision for me to come in. But I stayed ready like any other game and got in.”

Aaron Rodgers broke the NFL record for most sacked quarterback in history against the Bills

Aaron Rodgers broke the NFL record for most sacked quarterback in history against the Bills ( 

Image:

AP)

The decision to allow Taylor to play offense reaped rewards. In his limited time on the field, Taylor proved to be more effective than Rodgers by leading two touchdown drives.

The first touchdown Taylor threw was to wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who has publicly expressed dissatisfaction with Rodgers’ preference for Lazard and Davante Adams in the Jets’ offensive. He is reportedly open to requesting a trade if Rodgers is back with the Jets for the 2025 season.

Taylor’s second touchdown pass went to tight end Tyler Conklin, bringing a subdued end to an awful end-of-season performance for Rodgers and the Jets as a whole. According to Ulbrich, Rodgers will still start at quarterback to bring an end to the Jets’ dismal regular season campaign.

Ulbrich predicted Rodgers – who is still stranded on 499 NFL touchdown passes as he looks to become just the fifth player to break the 500 mark – will be under center against the Miami Dolphins. The Jets take on the 8-8 Dolphins on Sunday, Jan. 8.