Aaron Rodgers Says Jets Have to Stay 'Relaxed' After Loss to 49ers in NFL Week 1

Despite the New York Jets' disappointing 32-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in their season opener on Monday night, star quarterback Aaron Rodgers is preaching a message of patience.

"I think we always have to stay relaxed," Rodgers said Wednesday, per ESPN's Rich Cimini. "It's a long season. I think, at times, people think the season is like you're out in the prairie or the desert and you're moving around trying to find water, but it's more like a nice, slow Bolero, where we're just swaying with the music and reacting to whatever comes to us and through us, just trying to not get too high with the highs or too low with the lows."

It was a decade ago that Rodgers delivered a similar message after the Green Bay Packers started the 2014 season with a 1-2 record, famously telling Packers fans to "R-E-L-A-X." Green Bay went on to win its next four games and finished the season with a 12-4 record before advancing to the NFC Championship Game.

The Jets are hoping to bounce back in a similar way, as Monday's game didn't inspire much confidence from a fan base that has been starving for success.

Rodgers showed flashes of being the top quarterback he once was, but he was visibly rusty in his first game back from a torn Achilles that sidelined him for virtually the entire 2023 season. The rest of the team didn't look much better, as many players clearly needed more time to gel after New York chose not to play its starters during the preseason.

Still, Rodgers doesn't believe it's time to panic just yet, and he hopes fans understand that success won't come overnight for a franchise that has not made the playoffs in the last 13 years.

"The league is a lot different than what I said 'relax' years ago in that there's just so much more coverage (and) there's so much more opportunity for overreaction," Rodgers said. "So I get it. We want to win, the fans want to win, the organization wants to win, but the process has to be the same. If it's good enough in Week 1, it's good enough in the playoffs, so we've got to stick to the process and the preparation, the way that goes, and trust that it's good enough."

Rodgers will try to right the ship when the Jets visit the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.