New Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers brought a lot of former Green Bay Packers -- seven -- with him in order for the longest-tenured Packer (18 seasons in Green Bay) to feel at home in New York: wide receivers Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Malik Taylor, offensive tackle Billy Turner, quarterback Tim Boyle, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, and safety Adrian Amos. One player Rodgers couldn't bring with him was three-time All-Pro receiver Davante Adams, the player who has caught more touchdowns from Rodgers (68) than anyone else in the four-time NFL MVP's storied career. Fortunately for Rodgers, he sees plenty of similarities between Adams and the Jets' No. 1 wide receiver, 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson.
"Yeah," Rodgers said on July 20 when asked if Garrett Wilson reminds him of Davante Adams. "Look, I love Davante. I saw him this summer. Davante is in a category by himself still, but that 17 [Wilson] reminds me of the other 17 [Adams] as far as his [Wilson's] ability to get in and out of breaks and his quick twitch at the line of scrimmage, for sure."
The four-time NFL MVP doubled down on his praise for Wilson by once again comparing him to Adams during a sideline interview in the third quarter of the Hall of Fame Game between his Jets and the Cleveland Browns.
"Man Garrett, what an amazing kid," Rodgers said Thursday during the Hall of Fame in an interview with NBC Sports announcers Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth. "I have so much love and respect for Davante [Adams], he's the best receiver in the league. I don't say this lightly, but there are definitely traits that this 17 [Wilson] has that special 17 [Adams] has as well. I'm not going to put him in that category yet because Davante is in a category by himself, but Garrett really has the potential to be special. ... He has great talent, incredible work ethic, and he's a freaking great kid. He's a good human being. He cares about it and carries himself the right way, like a seasoned vet."
Rodgers and Adams teamed up for eight seasons together from 2014-2021, years that caused Wilson to look to Adams as his top football role model.
"Yeah," Wilson said on July 20 when asked if he sees the comparisons between himself and Adams. "I grew up watching him play and he was my favorite receiver growing up... I try to take a lot of things from what he did well, but he is special, and you can see the lab work he puts in throughout the offseason and I am trying to get to that point. His releases, how he gets off the ball, are second to none."
Lazard, who joined Gang Green in the offseason on a four-year, $44 million contract after five seasons in Green Bay, agrees with his longtime quarterback on the apt comparison between Adams, his former teammate, and Wilson, his current teammate. He's also trying to teach the second-year wideout some of the top lessons he's learned from playing with both Rodgers and Adams for an extended amount of time
"Garrett is incredible," Lazard said on July 20. "I see a lot of resemblance to Davante. To me, Davante is the best in the league, hands down. But there are a lot of things they do as far as mannerisms, personality, abilities that resemble each other. I was really able to join the [Packers in 2018] when Davante was really taking that next step in his career and solidifying himself as a top receiver, but I am seeing a lot of those same attributes in Year 2 of Garrett. I know Aaron has and I am trying to teach him the intricacies of the game. We are trying to teach him what he can add to his game and what can help him get to that next level."
Having both Lazard and Cobb, who has caught the third-most touchdown passes from Rodgers all-time (45), factored in as "tremendous" resources in getting Wilson up to speed with Rodgers' tendencies and offensive terminology.
"Allen is helping tremendously," Wilson said. "The way he [Lazard] goes about his business in the meeting room and out on the field makes it easier on me. He's going to share the knowledge, he's not going to hold it to himself. He wants everyone to be on the same page. Allen and Randall have been a huge help with that, also the translation from Aaron and the lingo they use. I feel like I'm where I should be learning the offense. We're all in the same area of knowing it, but there are a lot of nuances to it."
Wilson also couldn't have teamed up with Rodgers at a better time in the Super Bowl MVP's career because Rodgers admits his coaching points with younger teammates have softened as he's advanced both in age and in years playing NFL football.
"I feel like I've grown a lot over the years, some of that is the well-documented plant medicine journeys I've talked about, but the other is perspective," Rodgers said on July 20. "As you get older, you see things more clearly, and hindsight is 20/20. You try and rectify some of the things you did a certain way that you feel like you could've done better. I feel like it's important to have patience, in shorts and helmets in the first few days of camp. Sometimes patience can wear thin with some repeat mistakes, but we're building this thing right now. We want to build it the right way. I would say earlier in my career I was more easily angered, and I feel like I'm a little less triggered as I've gotten older."
Even though Rodgers has a longer rope when it comes to dealing with on-field mistakes, Wilson and the other Jets working with Rodgers for the first better heed what he says after an initial mess-up because making the same mistake twice still gets under the quarterback's skin.
"I feel like I'm a patient person, but when it comes to ball there's a right way of doing things and a way that's going to slow us down," Rodgers said. "It's just communicating through the moment about the little things that can speed up that process. Mistakes are going to happen, and you want them to happen at this time. The repeat mistakes are the ones that give you a little bit of pause."
Wilson working to reach an Adams-like level of dominance alongside Rodgers is something he relishes even with the quarterback's dedication to having things go exactly the right way in his eyes.
"His [Rodgers'] football intelligence, but it's not just football, it's everything," Wilson said when talking about the different feeling of catches passes from the future Hall of Famer. "When you play football, that's what you end up talking about most of the time. He's a historian, he knows the game at a level I haven't seen before. When you have 18, 19 years under your belt, I'm sure that comes with it, but I feel like he's starting a little ahead. He's a great person to talk to about ball and because of the work he's put in... Me personally, I want to be as good as I can be, and I want to get better every day. I feel like he's helping me get there. He doesn't slouch on any of the details, doesn't beat around the bushes. He's straight forward in telling us what we have to work on and do to be better, and that's how I want it."
The biggest thing Wilson worked on this offseason was his release off the line of scrimmage against man coverage.
"Depending on whatever defensive back I am getting on when I get in press coverage, I want to consistently be able to get into my route as fast as possible," Wilson said.
Alongside Rodgers, Wilson is certain he and the entire Jets franchise set to take flight for a monster year in his second season.
"I ain't going to fake it, we play to win the game," Wilson said. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. I want to win the Super Bowl. You don't make moves like we did in the offseason unless you're trying to get there. We want to have those expectations as athletes...We know where we want to get and personally, I think it's ok to talk about it. We want to go get it, that's cool."
