National Football League

Jets' Aaron Rodgers: Gardner, Wilson can be the best at their positions

Updated Jun. 10, 2023 5:31 p.m. ET

Aaron Rodgers has only been with the New York Jets for six weeks, but he's seen enough to believe that two of the team's premier young players, cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson, have an abundantly bright future.

Rodgers thinks that the Jets may soon have the NFL's best wide receiver and cornerback in Wilson and Gardner, which he expressed to the New York Post on Friday.

"We’ve got, at some point possibly, the best corner and the best receiver in the NFL," Rodgers said. "It’s a legit possibility I think for those two guys. Maybe not this upcoming year – I still think Davante [Adams] is in a league of his own – but those two kids are so talented."

Rodgers, a Super Bowl MVP, four-time NFL MVP and 10-time Pro Bowler, said that Wilson frequently makes a play in practice that makes him go, "Wow!"

Gardner and Wilson are only one season into their respective NFL careers, as the Jets drafted the former with the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Cincinnati and the latter with the No. 10 pick out of Ohio State in the same draft. Both players appeared in 17 games and won Rookie of the Year on their side of the ball.

Gardner totaled two interceptions, 20 passes defensed and 75.0 combined tackles and was part of a Jets defense that surrendered just 189.4 passing yards (third in NFL) and 18.6 points (fourth) per game.

Meanwhile, Wilson totaled 83 receptions for 1,103 yards and four touchdowns, all of which led the team, in a season that saw the Jets start four quarterbacks (Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, Mike White and Chris Streveler).

Rodgers sees the second-year players pushing each other in practice.

"How we take the next step is to talk about the things that give us the most issues," Rodgers said. "To talk about release issues [caused by Gardner] and also what’s hard on Garrett, and then Sauce telling Garrett what’s hard on him. I think right now, we got good communication with those guys. They battle, they compete."

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