Tom Brady Sets Expectations For Aaron Rodgers’ First Jets Season

Perhaps better than anyone else, Tom Brady knows what Aaron Rodgers is going through.

After two decades with the New England Patriots, Brady wrapped up his illustrious NFL tenure with three seasons in Tampa Bay. Rodgers’ run with the Green Bay Packers spanned nearly as long as Brady’s Foxboro chapter, and the four-time league MVP now is amid a new journey with the New York Jets.

Brady spoke about Rodgers’ situation on the season premiere of his SiriusXM “Let’s Go!” podcast. Although the 39-year-old is in completely new surroundings, Brady is expecting big things from his former counterpart.

“Well, it’s just, there’s a different energy about it,” Brady said, as transcribed by NFL.com. “It’s a newness. It’s a fresh start to try to take where you’ve been, to bring all the good and then not to bring the tough lessons, you know? Because sometimes the tough lessons always remain unless you work through ’em, you know? So it’s like you go through a lot of years at one place and there’s a lot of, I would say, mental scar tissue, from losses or relationships or certain experiences. Oh, this guy had said this once, or that teammate, or this coach or that general manager.

“Now you go to a new place and you have none of that. So now you can just hopefully bring your best knowing that you probably didn’t do everything right where you were, but you tried your best. And now you get to go to a new place with a different type of emotional energy. And I’m excited for him. He’ll be invigorated. Looks like he’s having a good time up to this year. I know he has been engaged in the offseason, which is always great, and really trying to connect with his teammates. So I’m excited to see what he does. They have a really good team. They have a really good offense. And, you know, Aaron’s been, when he’s got good receivers, man, it’s pretty dangerous. … I think he’s gonna have a great year.”

Rodgers won’t be able to ease his way into life with the Jets, as New York will wrap up the league’s season-opening slate with a Monday night matchup against the high-powered Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. As for Brady, he’ll spend Week 1 in his old stomping grounds where a celebration awaits the seven-time Super Bowl champion.