Staley: Aaron Rodgers effect is giving Jets different vibes

Throughout the country this week, students have been attending their last days of school before an extended break.

The Jets offseason program hasn’t exactly been like grade school, but Gang Green starts its summer vacation Friday afternoon.

Unlike the last few years, there’s a ton of optimism surrounding the Jets this spring. When speaking to the media during the previous six weeks, players have a noticeable glimmer in their eyes. Much of that has to do with adding a future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Since Aaron Rodgers was traded from the Packers to the Jets on April 26, the expectations at Florham Park have entirely changed. When Jets coach Robert Saleh arrived in 2021, the Jets were a homecoming opponent, a team that was considered an easy win on the schedule. Now, Gang Green has gone from an NFL afterthought to the prom king almost overnight.

“The reality is, yeah, we all want to win a world championship,” Saleh said. “You guys all want to be the best in your craft. We have long-term goals, but what are you doing in the interim?

“What are you doing today to prepare you or to get you moving towards your long-term goals? He’s [Rodgers] one of those guys that has that discipline, he understands that ‘Yes, this is what I want, but this is what I need to do today.’ If you have that and you can keep that in perspective, I think you’re fine being able to drift off every once in a while.”

Rodgers didn’t come to the Big Apple and prolong his retirement just for the Jets to make the playoffs. He is in it to win it as a second Super Bowl title that has continued to allude the former four-time NFL MVP.

During his last few years in Green Bay, the Packers had home-field advantage in 2020 and 2021 only to lose at home in the playoffs. Then last season, the Packers went from 13-4 to 8-9 and missed the playoffs. That likely played a significant role in Green Bay deciding to trade Rodgers and start over with Jordan Love, who is entering his fourth season in the league.

Much like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady before him when they changed teams late in their careers, Rodgers has been reinvigorated by a change of scenery. While he didn’t practice as much during OTAs because of a calf strain, Rodgers has consistently been seen smiling and engaging with players on the sidelines.

“It’s fun to get to know new guys and I was just teasing, I didn’t know where the mailroom was,” Rodgers said. “I just walked through the mailroom on the way in here, so just figuring out different places — what this building is all about, meeting new people.

“There’s been a lot of excitement around here and it’s been a lot of fun to be a part of. Obviously, there’s high expectations, which is great. That’s the way you want them, but yeah, I’m definitely rejuvenated. It’s fun being in the quarterback room with young guys and guys that I really love and respect and genuinely want to improve and are eager to learn and listen.”

Since the arrival of Rodgers, he has helped the offense learn Nathaniel Hackett’s offensive system, which was the same one he engineered in Green Bay from 2019-21. That same system helped him produce some of the best numbers of his career as Rodgers averaged 4,139 yards, 37 touchdowns and four interceptions a season en route to two consecutive MVP Awards in 2020-21.

During his short time with the Jets, Rodgers has held players accountable in team meetings by asking them about assignments and presnap reads. He has also popped in other positional group meetings, such as the offensive line room.

“He might be one of the first people to come up with a question for the coaches with the install,” Jets guard Laken Tomlinson said about Rodgers. “Maybe the first people to point out anything in meetings, making adjustments and tell us what he will be thinking during certain parts in meetings.

“He’s going to be the one in the huddle, so when you have that in meetings and you get that from the get-go, you know what to expect when you’re in the huddle.”

Rodgers’ presence hasn’t just been felt on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, adding a future Hall of Fame quarterback has helped Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich in several ways.

During their offseason program, Ulbrich and the Jets coaches have begun cutting up film from last year’s game against the Packers and Rodgers to see where they can improve. That way, both Rodgers and the Jets defenders can both tweak parts of their games.

“His impact on this team, and especially these younger players, is going to be, it’s going to felt for the remainder of all their careers to see a guy not just have the talent that he has, but the preparation and the process,” Ulbrich said. “I think when you acquire a player of his stature, you never know what it’s going to be like.

“I’ve been around a lot of superstars in this league that are very standoffish, that are very isolated, do their own thing, and he’s as inclusive as I’ve ever been around, especially for a player of that caliber. Constantly giving us feedback about what he sees on us defensively, giving us feedback as far as just getting tighter as a team and committing to a process at a higher level.

“He’s going to change the course of these young players’ careers forever.”

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The words Super Bowl and the Jets have been mentioned together by several television analysts this spring with the addition of Rodgers. Gang Green has a lot of work to do before reaching that goal beginning in training camp.

[ Jets full 2023 schedule with predictions from Daily News’ Antwan Staley ]

Adding Rodgers alongside the fourth-rank defense in the league last season certainly makes the team a playoff contender. Whether or not the Jets are Super Bowl contenders in a loaded AFC with the defending champion Chiefs, along with the Bengals, remains to be seen. But the Jets will certainly be tested this upcoming season.

Gang Green begins its season against the Bills on Monday Night Football, Sept. 11. Then, on a short week six days later, the Jets will travel to Arlington, Texas, to play the Cowboys.

The Jets have the sixth toughest schedule in the NFL based on last year’s winning percentage. Fans don’t have to look far to find coverage on the Jets during the offseason as they have turned into the media darlings.

[ Bob Raissman: Aaron Rodgers faces obstacle course of opinions with Jets’ primetime slate ]

Not all attention is good, as the Jets could have a target on their backs this season, especially with six primetime games for a team that finished 7-10 and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010. But at least from a public perspective, the Jets are saying all the right things about the extra attention.

“That’s exactly what we want,” Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “We want people to give us everything that we have when it goes into other people’s stadiums and hear every single thing that they have to say so we can shut them up after the game is over.

“That’s what it’s going to take to win a Super Bowl, that’s what it’s going to take to grow as a team and be competitive to win these tough games that we have coming in the future.”