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    • Cardinals pressured Aaron Rodgers all day in a win over Jets
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    Cardinals pressured Aaron Rodgers all day in a win over Jets

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    There was a time when Aaron Rodgers was more agile, stronger-armed and, for a time, the best quarterback in the NFL.

    Those days are probably behind him now. Still, the 40-year-old Rodgers is a 10-time Pro Bowler and four-time NFL All-Pro who has shown he can lead his New York Jets to victory. Sunday wasn’t that day, however, as Rodgers spent an afternoon at State Farm Stadium with hard-hitting Arizona Cardinals pass rushers flying at him, speedy defensive backs covering his receivers and often being forced to rush his throws.

    Rodgers did not complete a pass of more than 15 yards and hit 22 of 35 pass attempts for 151 yards without a touchdown. The Cardinals hammered Rodgers and the Jets 31-6, drawing praise from Rodgers for their defensive tenacity and offensive skill position players.

    “They have a lot of nice players. Kyler (Murray) seemed to be very efficient,” Rodgers said. “The running back, (James) Conner, is a liability. We couldn’t get him down much. They have a good tight end and have a top receiver (Marvin Harrison Jr.).

    “They have a nice plan defensively. Budda (Baker) is obviously very talented. Corners played well. They did a good job today. They brought it to us.”

    It wasn’t until late in the third quarter when Baker, the Cardinals safety whom Rodgers spoke highly of with ESPN’s Pat McAfee earlier this week, dropped Rodgers for a sack.

    What must have been the nature of the conversation between Rodgers and Davante Adams — the two formed a deadly pass-catching combo with the Green Bay Packers and are reunited with the Jets — when the third quarter ended and the two were on the bench?

    Maybe it was about life. Or drop to 3-7 and watch the Jets’ playoff chances take another hit. Or the frustration of not being able to do much at all against a swarming defense that sacked Rodgers three times, hit him five times, harassed him all day and forced a fumble.

    “I’m trying to work with him and keep his mind straight as much as possible,” Adams said of his good friend. “It’s hard, I mean, if Michael Jordan was on this team he wouldn’t be happy. You’re not supposed to be happy when things don’t go well, but you have to try to dig deep and try to to repair.”

    The day was “disappointing,” Rodgers said. The Cardinals certainly seem to be getting better at making teams feel that way.

    Rodgers’ miserable afternoon in Arizona also included a brief visit to the blue medical tent after the Cardinals’ Xavier Thomas planted him and forced a fumble, sending Rodgers landing hard on the ground, shoulder and head first.

    “They called from upstairs and said I needed to be checked by the unaffiliated neuro person,” Rodgers said.

    Rodgers didn’t miss a single shot after the goal, but that didn’t matter. He and the Jets were done, the Cardinals continued to rise and New York went in the opposite direction with a signal caller to the Hall of Fame.

    In the red zone, with less than five minutes to play, Rodgers couldn’t connect with Malachi Corley on fourth down. He gestured angrily at his receiver, who was not close to a ball thrown out of his reach.

    The Jets were 0 for 3 in the red zone that day.

    “They played really well on defense. I definitely missed a few throws, and situationally we were really bad,” Rodgers said.

    For his part, Murray seemed to catch the Jets off guard.

    “I will say this: They probably passed the ball a little bit more than we expected,” Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “They made their money with the run game, and Kyler did a great job. It’s thanks to him that he hit us, especially when we weren’t executing.

    “We also did not do well enough in terms of reporting. They did an excellent job, they had a great plan for us.”

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