There are plenty of new things about the Jets early in training camp — none more obvious than the man playing quarterback.
But Aaron Rodgers did not come to Florham Park alone for this training camp.
He brought with him something that has not shown up at One Jets Drive in more than a decade: expectations.
That was evident on Saturday in the first training camp practice open to fans.
The tickets to the open practice, and the next three, sold out in three minutes.
More than 2,000 fans packed into the team’s training camp.
The “Aaron Rodgers” and “J-E-T-S” chants started well before practice and continued throughout the day.
It most certainly does not feel like the Same Old Jets right now.
Rodgers showed why during his best practice of camp so far. With Jay-Z music blaring over the loudspeakers, Rodgers was dealing.
He made throws to Tyler Conklin, Corey Davis and Mecole Hardman in the end zone that were fit into windows smaller than a cruise ship porthole.
When Sauce Gardner broke up his pass to Garrett Wilson down the sideline, Rodgers threw a quick slant to Wilson on the next play.
“His presence is great for everybody,” head coach Robert Saleh said for Rodgers.
That includes owner Woody Johnson, who was beaming as he surveyed the camp practice
. Johnson wandered over to take selfies with fans, delivering fist bumps and soaking in love that he has not felt in a long as owner of the downtrodden Jets.
No one was screaming, “Sell the Team” at him on Saturday.
It was the most exciting day ever at Jets training camp in Florham Park. You’d have to go back to 2008, when Brett Favre made his debut for the team at Hofstra, to find anything comparable.
The practice Saturday was just an appetizer for what Week 1 will feel like at MetLife Stadium when the Bills come calling for a “Monday Night Football” game in what is going to be the most anticipated opener since at least 2011, and maybe since 1999.
The Jets are not running from what Rodgers has brought with him. After years of floundering, the organization is relishing in its lofty expectations.
“The message is: Embrace it, love it, you earned it,” Saleh said. “Now what? Go do something.”
“Now what?” is Saleh’s new favorite phrase. Saleh does not want the Jets to pretend that the Super Bowl is not their goal, but he has emphasized keeping the focus on the present.
“I’m a firm believer that you address the elephant in the room, and ‘Now what?’ ” Saleh said. “You’ve still got to go do something. You’ve still got to attack the day, you’ve still got to attack your moments, you’ve still got to find a way to get better every day. You’ve still got to go to bed better than when you woke up. You’ve still got to attack every single moment of the day.
“If you do that, then you at least give yourself a chance to achieve what everyone is expecting you to.
“If you just sit there and look at the trophy way down the road, then you’re going to forget all the road that it takes to get there.”
Saleh has been on teams with raised expectations before.
The 2013 Seahawks entered the year with massive hype after Russell Wilson had led them to the playoffs in 2012 as a rookie.
Seattle ended up winning Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife.
In 2019, expectations skyrocketed in San Francisco, and the 49ers made a run to the Super Bowl.
Around here, expectations have not been this high for the Jets since 2011, when they were coming off back-to-back AFC Championship appearances.
Since then, they have been through four coaches, four general managers, 13 starting quarterbacks, the Tebow experiment, Fire Idzik, the Geno Punch, the Hackenberg experiment, the Darnold Era, mono, the Wilson Era, Mike f’n White and plenty of other moments the organization would like to forget.
After that recent history, it is no wonder that the Jets are not worrying about people’s lofty predictions but embracing them.
“We know what our expectations are,” Saleh said. “We know the noise. We know everyone is excited about this football team and what it can do.”
Excited? About the Jets? In July?
That is something a Jets coach has been unable to say for a long, long time.
The Jets are ready to enjoy this ride.