The New York Jets are hurting in all kinds of ways. Touting Super Bowl aspirations before the 2024 NFL season, the AFC East hopefuls are just 2-6 through eight games, and their star quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, has played through multiple injuries. Ahead of the team's crucial Thursday night matchup with the Houston Texans, Rodgers may have found a secret weapon to aid he and the Jets: hot peppers.
"I feel really good," Rodgers told reporters Tuesday. "I feel much better. ... I was hurting. But I feel better."
How, exactly, has the 40-year-old quarterback turned the corner so abruptly?
"T-Mo gave me a little fountain of youth," he said, alluding to Jets punter Thomas Morstead. "He said he's been taking it for a while. All legal, of course. I've been kinda gassing him up, [telling him] that's why I'm feeling a little bit better. He's been taking, like, cayenne pepper and water. So he gave me some before the [last] game. I felt pretty good. I've been gassing him up, [telling him] that's why I'm feeling so good."
Rodgers added that he's "taking care of myself nonstop," working to stay healthy a year after missing all but four snaps due to a torn Achilles. He acknowledged that his mobility may have been limited in the Jets' Week 8 loss to the New England Patriots, but didn't have any concerns about his condition for Thursday's game.
The former Green Bay Packers star has struggled to find a groove during the Jets' lowly season, completing just 61.6% of his throws, with 12 touchdowns to seven interceptions.