C.J. Mosley hasn’t yet incurred the wrath of Aaron Rodgers.
The Jets linebacker, in his fifth season with the team and one of the elder statesmen in the locker room, isn’t one of the players who Rodgers has vociferously corrected or cajoled during the heat of the first few days of training camp.
But Mosley, who captains the other side of the ball from Rodgers, loves the look of the 40-year-old Hall of Fame-bound quarterback getting after his teammates in an effort to set a standard that hasn’t been seen around these parts in a long, long time.
Maybe ever.
Rodgers not only is the most intriguing player in the NFL at the moment, he is a player who’s done everything in the game and yet carries with him fascinating questions about what he has left at this age after an Achilles’ injury wrecked his first season in Jets green.
He, too, is the highest-paid assistant coach in NFL history.
“He’s a legit player-coach. That’s exactly what he is,” Mosley told The Post after practice Wednesday. “He’s playing the game, but he’s also putting people in the right positions and making checks. And if someone — whether it’s the guard, center or receiver — if they mess up, they’re going to hear it.”
Earlier this week, during some inconsistent and uneven portions of practice, some of Rodgers’ offensive teammates were hearing it.
Rodgers, in the two days of full-padded practices before Wednesday, at times looked like an agitated teacher whose class wasn’t paying attention, breaking into some animated conversations with players in an effort to get things right.
“It’s just a standard that he started and the offense has to uphold,” Mosley said, with a tint of admiration in his voice.
“He’s a coach on the field,” head coach Robert Saleh said Wednesday.
Given that the offensive coaching wasn’t what you would call a strength of the 2023 Jets, Rodgers as the de facto offensive coordinator isn’t a bad thing for Saleh. It’s a damn good thing.
Rodgers isn’t only the most important player on the team, he’s its most important assistant coach.
The beauty of this is that Rodgers embraces the dual role.
“There’s a standard that we’d like to set, and there’s an accountability that goes with that in practice, and that standard is very, very high,” Rodgers said. “I like to push guys to believe in themselves maybe more than they do at the time. You’re trying to find a way to push guys to see their potential, to believe in themselves, to bring them along.
“It’s the same standard I hold myself to on the practice field — of excellence, of detail, of preparation.”
Rodgers called himself “a little more tempered than I was when I was a younger player. … The fuse is a little bit longer.”
Then, with the following words, Rodgers sounded so coach-like you’d have thought he was channeling his inner Bill Parcells, one of the great coaches of all time, with the way he so masterfully understood how to push players’ buttons.
“You can’t coach everyone the same way,” Rodgers said. “Certain guys, you can get on them. Certain guys you’ve got to pull aside and talk to. Certain guys want to have it out on the field. Some guys will pull you aside in the locker room. It just depends on the guys.
“You’ve got to set a standard and hold guys accountable to that standard at practice and the way you want to see things run. Sometimes you’ve got to infuse a little bit of energy.”
Player-coach Rodgers does all the above.
Among the two key offensive players he had “conversations’’ with in the midst of some spotty practices earlier this week were receiver Garrett Wilson and center Joe Tippmann, who’s been plagued with a case of the snapping yips this summer.
Every one of the Jets players should want to lift themselves to Rodgers’ standard, because they want to go where he’s been and wants to go again: the Super Bowl.
“He’s been there, he’s done it, he’s won a Super Bowl, he’s been the MVP of the league,” Mosley said. “He’s found ways to win when the clock says ‘zero.’ He’s found a way.
“What he demands from his offense and his teammates you have to respect. He’s a great leader. He might have a different style with the way he leads. People might not like how he leads off the field when he’s not in the building, but when he’s around us in the building he’s always sharing information, making us better.
“He doesn’t walk around like he’s that guy. He walks around like someone who wants to be a part of the team and earn everybody’s trust and help win us a championship.’’
And at the end of the day, what more can this title-starved franchise can ask for?
