– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — Aaron Rodgers made his long-awaited MetLife Stadium debut as a New York Jet on Saturday evening, even if his helmet and pads were nowhere to be found, and his right arm was hanging down from his sides instead of slinging spirals into tight windows. Any appearance by Rodgers inside of the home of the Jets, however, is cause for excitement and anticipation, especially as the dress rehearsals of the NFL preseason ebb and the “real games” are on the horizon.
There was a real game tonight inside of MetLife Stadium, and it was Rodgers’ Jets who dropped a 13-6 decision to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the penultimate preseason contest for Gang Green. Along with Rodgers, many projected starters on both sides of the ball were held out once again, and the New York reserves were shutout in the second half after squeezing out a couple of field goal drives in the first half.
The man who started under center for the Jets tonight, Zach Wilson, started once again for the Jets, and went 9-of-13 for 70 yards while playing the entire first half. His biggest highlight of the night came on a 35-yard scramble during the second quarter when he spun out of the pocket before running up the right sideline and into the red zone. That run led to the second of Greg Zuerlein’s field goals, a 38-yard field goal to give New York a 6-3 lead.
While the Jets’ quarterback situation is set in stone, Tampa Bay’s situation under center is a little murkier, with Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask battling for the No. 1 spot, with Mayfield appearing to hold the advantage at the moment. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said after the game that Trask, who played the entire first half, was going to be replaced by Mayfield but was left in to see how he could handle a two-minute drill situation. Trask then punctuated the first 30 minutes with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Trey Palmer, who made a juggling catch in the end zone to give Tampa Bay the lead right out of the two-minute warning.
Palmer, a rookie sixth-round pick from Nebraska, has caught a touchdown in each of the first two games of the preseason for the Buccaneers, hauling in a score from Mayfield during the second quarter in the preseason opener at home against Pittsburgh. With Russell Gage’s season-ending injury suffered during a joint practice between these teams on Wednesday, Palmer is in line for a big role on the outside.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with all photos taken by ALOST senior photographer Robert Cole. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 11 pictures in total.
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