Jets beaten convincingly by 49ers on Aaron Rodgers’s return from injury

Aaron Rodgers’ long-awaited return to the field was ruined by San Francisco, as the 49ers got 147 yards rushing and a touchdown from running back Jordan Mason in a 32-19 victory about the New York Jets on Monday night.

Rodgers threw for 167 yards and one touchdown with an interception, exactly 52 weeks to the day after his New York debut ended with a torn Achilles tendon after four snaps.

Rodgers struggled to move in the pocket Monday but occasionally flashed the arm that helped him win four MVPs with the Green Bay Packers. It wasn’t enough to beat the 49ers, who overpowered the Jets’ defense, which should be the team’s strength in the trenches, and overcame the absence of All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey.

Mason, who went undrafted in 2022, made up for it in his first career start, using his physical running style to help San Francisco control the ball behind a strong performance from the offensive line. Deebo Samuel added a two-yard TD run and Jake Moody tied a franchise-record six field goals to lead the 49ers to victory.

Brock Purdy threw for 231 yards with no touchdowns or turnovers against a Jets defense that provided little pressure without tenacious edge rusher Haason Reddick.

The Niners, who reached the Super Bowl last season, took control of the game at halftime on Monday. They scored a field goal on a 12-play, 75-yard drive at the end of the first half and scored on Mason’s five-yard run on an 11-play, 70-yarder to start the second half. That turned a 13-7 lead into a 23-7 advantage, with the Jets having just one kneel down snap during that period. New York’s total time of possession on Monday was 21:20, the least amount by a team led by Rodgers throughout his long career.

Rodgers then intercepted the ball on the next drive on a pass to Garrett Wilson, but the ball was diverted into the hands of linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles by Deommodore Lenoir.

Rodgers threw his first TD pass in 610 days when he took advantage of a free pass with Leonard Floyd caught offsides and connected for a 36-yard scoring strike to Allen Lazard, cutting the lead to 26-13. Lazard caught a second TD from Tyrod Taylor in the final seconds after the game was decided and Rodgers had been pulled from the game.

Rodgers’ second game with the Jets lasted much longer than his first, which ended with a season-ending Achilles injury after just four snaps in 2023.

New York went three-and-out on the game’s opening drive with two handoffs and a dropped pass by Lazard before a setback on the fourth snap proved temporary rather than season-ending this time around. Rodgers’ first completion as a Jet was caught by Breece Hall, who turned the ball over to Fred Warner for a dropped fumble that set up a Niners field goal.

Rodgers got the Jets moving on the ensuing drive, converting three third-down passes to Wilson into Hall’s three-yard TD run. Rodgers went 6 of 7 for 61 yards on the drive. New York didn’t get another first down in the half, and it rarely looked like they would get back into the game.