Mike Florio and Myles Simmons give credit to Aaron Rodgers for building a relationship with Jordan Love, despite how the Packers brought the QB in.

Video Transcript

MIKE FLORIO: Jordan Love also addressed the relationship with Aaron Rodgers. The things he learned, the time he spent watching Rodgers play, but for that limited slice that we saw. And then there was a game, that COVID game in 2021 as well, where Jordan Love got to play.

He wasn't as bad in that game as people thought. Just because he didn't score many points, it doesn't mean he got-- yeah, he got thrust into it without a lot of preparation. And game plan's already set up one way. And regardless, he wasn't as bad than as a lot of people thought.

MYLES SIMMONS: Yeah, Matt LaFleur has said that he does not like the way that he called that game. He said that he felt like he should have run the ball more, and he didn't necessarily set up Jordan Love as well as he could have for success. So I think that that's just a sort of important sidebar to that.

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MIKE FLORIO: And that's a good point. Here is Love with some reflections from yesterday on his time with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay.

JORDAN LOVE: I mean, I learned a lot. I mean, I learned I was just able to watch a great quarterback how he works every day, how he handles business in the locker room, interacts with teammates, just how he attacks every day. I mean, just being able to sit back as a quarterback and observe him, observe how his footwork, how the ball comes out of his hands, and just how he practices every day, and then takes that into the game, I mean, it's just very valuable stuff that I was able to sit for three years and kind of just pick his brain on and just watch him work.

- Have you had any communication with him since the trade went down?

JORDAN LOVE: Yeah, we talked after the trade. It's kind of just wish you the best going forward. He wished me the best. And always there for me if I need anything, if I have any questions or anything, but I'm always just grateful to be around him and for the time I had with him to be able to learn and be behind him, it's very grateful for me.

MIKE FLORIO: It is encouraging that Rodgers didn't treat Jordan Love poorly because Love was the personification of the dysfunction in Green Bay. He was the guy that they brought in without telling Aaron Rodgers. The guy they brought in to take his place.

And it looks like Rodgers was able to set that aside and have a real relationship with Jordan Love, and that's encouraging because I'm not so sure Brett Favre did that with Aaron Rodgers. I think that may be why they got off on the wrong foot because Favre viewed Rodgers as the thing that he didn't expect them to do, even though he was waffling and wishy-washy about retirement for years before they finally decided to protect themselves.

So, I got to give Rodgers credit there because unless Jordan Love is just saying all the right things because he doesn't want to have an open feud with Aaron Rodgers, which isn't impossible, it sounds like they had a real relationship, and that Rodgers didn't take any of his frustration with the front office out on Love.

MYLES SIMMONS: Well, I mean, you would hope that Aaron Rodgers would have learned from his own experience, right, where it was not his choice to go to Green Bay. It was just that Green Bay was the team that drafted him, right? It's the same thing with Jordan Love. He didn't choose to go to Green Bay.

I mean, I don't know that Jordan Love would have chose to sit behind somebody for three years and not play. That kind of alludes to what Aaron Jones was talking about, right? He's a competitor. He wants to be on the field.

But I think it is good, and I would agree with you, and I can't believe you said it, that you got to give Aaron Rodgers some credit somewhere. Maybe he would want to read that kind of crap from Mike Florio. But I think it's right that we look--

MIKE FLORIO: No, no, no. Read none of the crap. No. No, no, no.

MYLES SIMMONS: I didn't let that--

MIKE FLORIO: Can't pick and choose through the crap.

MYLES SIMMONS: No?

MIKE FLORIO: Can't pick and choose through the crap. If you're going to read none of that crap, you can't even read the good crap.

MYLES SIMMONS: Wow. All right, well, I guess we now know how you feel about that with Aaron Rodgers. But I think that it is worth crediting him for the way that he apparently treated Jordan Love, right? And especially if he's saying, hey, if you have any questions, you can ask me. It's kind of nice, I guess, that those two teams don't face off against each other this year because that it might be a little bit different, right? And you're not necessarily going to see that.

But I think that one thing Jordan Love also could have learned from Aaron Rodgers is how he doesn't necessarily want to interact with his teammates. How he would do things a little bit differently. And that's something that you can observe and learn, I should say, by observing somebody else who is in the position that you ultimately want to have.

And he didn't say that, but I think that is something that whenever you're watching somebody and you're like, OK, one day I'm going to do that job, how would I do things the same, and how would I do things differently, and how can I adapt things and make them work for me?

MIKE FLORIO: Well, to the extent that you're watching me, just remember this. Whatever I do, do the opposite. Another "Seinfeld" reference that will be lost on you forever, OK.

So, one last note. This came from ESPN yesterday. Reportedly the Packers did not want the conditional pick in the Rodgers trade, the two that becomes a one. They didn't want it to be tied to wins because their position is, it's up to the Jets to win. And if you can't win with Aaron Rodgers, that's on you.

The Jets still agreed to it. And I still think it's concerning that Rodgers could miss nearly six full games of snaps and that two still becomes a one, and that the wheels could fall off. And when they see the schedule tonight and they say, oh crap, we got some tough games, it's going to be difficult to make it to the playoffs. We may have a top 10 draft pick. And if Aaron plays 11 games, that pick goes to Green Bay, no questions asked, no limitations, no protections.

I mean, in theory, the first overall pick in the draft could go to the Green Bay Packers next year from the Jets, as long as Aaron Rodgers takes 65% of the snaps that's all that matters. But the Packers' attitude was, it's on you to take this great quarterback and have a great season and knock that first round pick down as low as it can be.

MYLES SIMMONS: Yes, of course it is. I mean, why are you doing the trade unless you think that Aaron Rodgers can be that for you? So, I mean, don't make trades scared. Don't make trades scared that this first round pick is going to be a high pick. You feel like your roster is at a place where if you add this quarterback you're going to be put over the top, you're going to be a Super Bowl contender.

So, yeah, it is on the Jets to make sure that happens. And if I'm the Jets, I don't necessarily want to play scared like that. I get that you want some kind of protection, but don't be scared when you're making bold moves.

MIKE FLORIO: Yeah, I still-- now, look--

MYLES SIMMONS: That's because you're a lawyer and you go to worse-- yeah, there you go, but you go to worst case scenario all the time. And it works in some ways, but that is worst case scenario, like, in theory, it could be the number one overall pick. That's worst case scenario. That's something catastrophic happened, right? I mean, I don't think that anyone thinks that the Jets are going to be that bad, do they?

MIKE FLORIO: Well, the idea that Rodgers would play at least 11.05 games worth of snaps and they'd be the number one overall pick in the draft, that's some weird stuff that would have to happen for that outcome, but as I've said before, when you litigate, you learn how to anticipate worst case scenarios because almost every piece of litigation out there, civil particularly, is the result of an unanticipated worst case scenario or an unforeseen worst case scenario coming to fruition, otherwise you wouldn't be in court trying to sort out exactly who did what to whom, who said what to whom, who owes what to whom.

So, that's what makes you a better advisor, the more you've been in court and seen what happens when it all hits the fan, you can help guide people around avoiding even getting there. So, don't hate because I go straight to the worst case scenario. It's prudent to go to the worst case scenario.

But what is the best case scenario, Myles? And again, I was starting to say this before I sidetracked myself. I'm due to talk to Joe Douglas later today. I don't want to preview or tip my hand to the extent that they're paying attention to anything I might say, and it's not a-- look, these conversations are all very positive, but I'm just curious what success means?

Is it Super Bowl or bust? Is it some other definition? Everybody says they want to win the Super Bowl, but what is the line of demarcation where if you're the Jets and you end up giving up your first round pick next year, what is it that makes you say, at the end of the day, it was worth it?

Is it being in primetime? Is that part of it? Being in primetime seven times this year? Is it all those stand-alone games? Is it having your stadium full? Is it being the talk of the league? Is that part of what makes it a victory?

When I asked Eric DeCosta last week about why they overpaid Odell Beckham Jr, he talked about how he sells jerseys and puts people in the stands. Like, that is part of the analysis. It isn't just, we have to go get our fingerprints on the Lombardi Trophy. So I'm going to try to find out what Joe Douglas thinks success is. Where's that-- there's got to be a line somewhere. Where's that line between pass or fail on the Aaron Rodgers trade.

MYLES SIMMONS: Yeah, I'm glad you brought up the Eric DeCosta stuff because that's exactly where I was going to go with it. There is some stuff in the larger picture of why you go and you make a move to bring in a high-profile player. It does put butts in the seats. It does sell jerseys. It does elevate excitement, and the Jets knew they could not go into this 2023 season with Zach Wilson as their quarterback.

But I mean, if I'm Joe Douglas and you ask me that question, the answer is going to be, hey, we just want to make sure that we are putting ourselves in the best position to be successful. I don't know if we can say that there is some kind of line of demarcation between success and failure. I mean, why would you-- you can't say that publicly in mid-may. And I respect you for wanting to ask the question, right, it's not that.

But it's more or less, we have to put ourselves in the best position to win, and we want to, first of all, win our division. Being the Champions of the AFC East, which is something we haven't done in a stone's age, right? We've got to be able to make sure that we said we've done everything we can to put ourselves in position to win the AFC East, and then once you get into the tournament, we won't know what's going to happen until we get there.

But if we can win the AFC East, and we can put ourselves in position to have a home playoff game, then that is going to at least set us up to have some kind of success this season. Do you think I did a good job as a GM?

MIKE FLORIO: Well, yeah, I think it's good. We not only gave him the question, but we also gave him the answer. So, Joe, you've got a couple of hours if you're listening to come up with your own answer. You can use Myles' answer, and it really would be funny if he types out and reads word for word what you just said when I ask him what is the line of demarcation between pass and fail.

But at some point, and this is where your Browns I think failed miserably in 2019. They got so intoxicated by the unexpected late season success in 2018 that they never spent time reeling in expectations for 2019. The bar was way too high for the Freddie Kitchens' Cleveland Browns of 2019.

And I think that's where the business side of your organization gets caught up in, hey, people actually want to come to our games. Hey, people actually want to watch our games on TV. Hey, people actually want to buy Baker Mayfield jerseys and Myles Garrett jerseys, and they actually want to buy our material, our merchandise. Yeah. So, at some point the adults got to show up into the room and temper the expectations, and that's what I'm giving Joe Douglas a chance to do today, to temper the expectations.

Will he do that? Will he take advantage of a chance to temper expectations or is he all-in too? Because I mean, the problem is you want to have some safe harbor if the thing goes sideways. And they've got a crippling schedule, and we're going to find out tonight how many of those tough games are going to be right out of the gates.

When are they going to see Dallas? That's the big takeaway from the Black Friday game featuring the Jets. We sure aren't going to see the Jets at the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. They're not going to be playing the Dolphins at home the next day.

So where does that game land? When do they face the Bills the first time? When's the first game against the Dolphins? Is it Black Friday and they play them again after that? When do they face the Chiefs? When do they have the Eagles? When do they visit the Giants?

When do they go to Cleveland to play your Browns, who may be a hell of a lot better this year? They're flying under the radar screen. Nobody's paying attention to them because they have been underachieving for two straight seasons. That could be a tight-- it's a lot of tough games there.

Once we see-- it's one thing to look at that graphic. It's another thing to look at week one, week two, week three, all the way to week 18. It feels different when you see the gauntlet that you have to run. And we're going to see it tonight, and it could be alarming for some Jets fans.

MYLES SIMMONS: Well, what's the easy game there, right? I mean, Raiders, Broncos, Texans? I mean, those are the only ones where it's like, eh, the Jets really should be able to take care of business, and the Browns, I suppose. I mean, although the Browns may be better.

MIKE FLORIO: I would take Broncos out of that-- I would take Broncos out of that category. I think with Sean Payton there, they're going to be better. Raiders, relative, it's all relative. I mean--

MYLES SIMMONS: I know.

MIKE FLORIO: Look, the Texans I think are the only one that stands out as if you don't win that one, there's something wrong with you because they're still a work in progress.

MYLES SIMMONS: Falcons are also a work in progress.

MIKE FLORIO: --each of the last two years. That's one-- but that's one where the Jets can step on a rake if they're not ready. See, that's the thing. This is a team that has not been a measuring stick for anyone for years. It's now the measuring stick. And all they've done to become the measuring stick is they got hot early last year, then it all fell apart, and now they have Aaron Rodgers, and now there are measuring stick team.

So every team on that schedule that sees Jets, they're going to circle it, and circle it, and circle it, and they're going to be ready for that game. And every single week the Jets are going to be getting the A-game of every team on that schedule. So, danger when you face the Browns, danger when you face the Commanders, danger when you face the Texans and the Falcons.

And those are your break weeks. That's your escape from the meat grinder. They're still going to grind you meat when-- sorry.

MYLES SIMMONS: They're going to what now?

MIKE FLORIO: When you face those-- when you faces those other teams.

[LAUGHS]

MYLES SIMMONS: I would just want to add that when you say all they've done, as I blow past whatever it was you just said there, they put together a defense that can really compete very, very well. And so when you add one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time to that and you have a good complement of weapons offensively, yeah, you're going to, I think, in theory be in position to do more than just kind of grind someone's meat, is that what you said?

MIKE FLORIO: But you still haven't-- you still haven't done it. That's the thing. The point is this, it's kind of like the Bills last year. When the Bengals had just gone to the Super Bowl, and everybody's on the Bills, it's like, no, not us, them. Not us, the Lions this year. The Lions, what have the Lions done to be the measuring stick?

MYLES SIMMONS: First of all, you were the one who was going all, well, Bills this, Bills that, and can the Bills live up to the pressure, can they do this and that?

MIKE FLORIO: No, no, no, no.

MYLES SIMMONS: Like, that was--

MIKE FLORIO: Yeah, exactly. That's my point.

MYLES SIMMONS: I know. So, I mean, I think that if you have a quarterback like an Aaron Rodgers, you don't necessarily have the, can they do X, Y. Like, yeah, but I think also that division is going to be really, really tough, right? The Dolphins are very good, and they added Vic Fangio, and hopefully Tua Tagovailoa is going to be healthy.

The Bills are still the juggernauts in that division, and as long as they have Josh Allen, they're going to be that. So, you know, I don't think that anybody is right now being like, oh man, the Jets have to do X, Y, and Z, otherwise they're total failures. Like, no, I mean, they've done the thing where they can set themselves up well.

MIKE FLORIO: Here's my point. You're twisting my point. My point is this. There is no road apple. There is-- can I finish? There is no road apple. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, there is no road apple on the schedule--

MYLES SIMMONS: On the road to the grinding your meat?

MIKE FLORIO: There's never an easy week. There's never-- there's never an easy week for the Jets. And what have they done to deserve it? That's my point. This is a Super Bowl mindset. This is what the Chiefs are going to face, and the Jets haven't even been to the playoffs in when? When was the last time they were in the playoffs? I can't remember. I can't remember much because again, I got sick last weekend, and it operated as a hard reset on my brain.