Jason Bell NFL Blog: Aaron Rodgers Should Target Early Return

Aaron Rodgers Should Return To Action

I think Aaron Rodgers should do exactly what he feels he wants to, which at the moment looks to be him returning to field as soon as possible.

We’ve heard him talk about the fact that he only has so much time left in the game given his age, but he still has the time, ability and resources to commit to his recovery, which a lot of people don’t have.

As an athlete, working out is basically your job and that is what he has done for his rehab, so I think him wanting to come back is cool.

He wants to see how fast he can come back and he has always been a guy that wants to overachieve. Even when the odds are stacked against him he wants to fight and this is just another case of that.

As an outsider looking in, when somebody commits to something and they bounce back and win, that is what sport is all about. This is just another one of those situations where he can go out and win again.

Being in MVP conversation is great for CJ Stroud

I don’t think CJ Stroud will win the MVP, purely because he would likely have to be on the number one team in the AFC and Houston are not that right now – but it’s a great conversation for him to be in nonetheless.

We have to remember that he was the number two pick and he is now in a great situation. I really like the Texans’ staff and what they’re doing with him is unbelievable.

He is a clear frontrunner for the Offensive Player Of The Year, which is not something that we would have seen from him at the start of the year. 

CJ Stroud even being in the conversation for the MVP says so much about the state of the Texans right now and that new staff. If you were the owner of the Houston Texans, you would be very happy with the way things are looking at the moment. 

Kirk Cousins won’t be short of options

One thing that’s for certain is that Kirk Cousins will have a lot of options.

He may be 35 years old but as an experienced quarterback with plenty left in the tank, there are going to be a lot of opportunities on offer for him and it will be hard to know exactly what is going to happen with him until it actually happens.

There are a lot of teams who could look really good with Kirk Cousins in their setup. Think about what the Raiders, Titans, Jets and Packers would look like with Kirk Cousins on their roster. He is going to have a lot of options and we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

I think he could end up staying with Minnesota because his injury means that he will be costing them less.

Jaguars need to learn how to be great

The Jaguars fell to a heavy defeat against the 49ers on their own patch and I don’t like the way that they are playing at home. Trevor Lawrence is one of the main ones that seems to play better on the road, something which I find strange. 

I think this game will teach them a lesson and it will show them how they have to be if they want to be a great team.

They went up against a squad that everybody thinks could be in the Super Bowl and they’re a great team. When you play against that kind of team it feels different and you have to be able to rise to the occasions.

Jacksonville are right up there at the moment but they went through a bad spell not too long ago and they have gone from bad to good quickly, which is a severe jump.

They have had to adapt to that and approach things differently. Now they have to act more like a great team and step it up a notch in the things that they know they don’t excel in. 

I think they will respond, but that result was not a shock to me. This is just the kind of thing that happens when you are trying to evolve as a team.

Raiders @ Dolphins the game to watch

There are some really intriguing games this week, but the obvious one that stands out is the Kansas City Chiefs up against the Philadelphia Eagles – a re-run of the Super Bowl.

That is the big one and there is not too much that needs to be said about that game. The stars are on show and a repeat of the most recent Super Bowl is always going to be a good matchup.

The other game that really catches my eye is the Miami Dolphins taking on the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Raiders are coming into this off the back of two successive wins under new head coach Antonio Pierce and it will be interesting to see how they shape up in this one.

Even if the Raiders lose, if they play hard and the team really responds to Pierce then he might even get the head coach role on a permanent basis. 

The Dolphins are the better team but they do seem to struggle to get results over the line against other winning teams. They need to win this game because they are expected to win it, but are they ready for a fight?

They are fast and explosive but when it comes to winning championships it is about being tough. It comes down to who can make those hard yards and who is going to stand up when the chips are down? 

I think the Raiders are going to come out swinging and it is going to be great game, which in the end will tell us more about the Raiders than it will the Dolphins.