Aaron Rodgers challenges Joe Tippmann to become Jets’ leader

Back in August 2014, before Aaron Rodgers orchestrated his second MVP season and Joe Tippmann was still six years away from playing a college football game in the same state, the Packers needed to make a late pivot. 

JC Tretter, the starting center, sustained a preseason knee injury that sidelined him into the regular season.

Corey Linsley, a fifth-round pick that year, slid up the depth chart, started all 16 games as a rookie and helped the Green Bay offensive line — “probably our best line over the years we had,” Rodgers said Wednesday — anchor a run that was one blown lead and one botched onside kick away from reaching the Super Bowl. 

The Jets’ center outlook entering 2024 is different.

There wasn’t an injury prompting a last-minute change.

Tippmann will enter his sophomore season.

But during his first training camp press conference, Rodgers brought up Tippmann unprompted in an answer about the Jets’ standard and tone.

This year, Tippmann, their second-round pick in 2023, began camp as the unquestioned center.

He won’t shift between that spot and guard, like he did last year.

He won’t flip between first- and second-team reps, either. 

Tippmann’s development as a rookie has positioned him to become a mainstay on an offensive line that has 30 years of NFL experience among the projected starters.

And Rodgers, the 40-year-old quarterback depending on it, wants to “empower” Tippmann and see him “take it over” — just as Linsley did 10 seasons ago. 

“He stepped in and got those guys going, and they listened to him,” Rodgers said of Linsley. “I think [Tippmann] can do that, so we got to empower the leadership.” 

Stability in training camp has helped.

Last year, Tippmann entered as the competitor trying to snag the job from Connor McGovern.

His first NFL start came at right guard in Week 3 after Duane Brown’s injury.

But by Nov. 6, just eight weeks into the season and the game after McGovern went down with a season-ending knee injury, Tippmann was at center. 

The results were promising.

He allowed just three sacks, according to Pro Football Focus, and while seven of his eight penalties occurred after his switch, he settled into the new role — with head coach Robert Saleh predicting in December that Tippmann would be a “very good center for a long time” — and set a foundation for 2024. 

During an OTA session in June, longtime Jets center Nick Mangold helped Tippmann with technique and footwork. Tippmann asked questions and got Mangold’s phone number, with Mangold telling him that he could call or text at any point.

Then, Tippmann incorporated those insights into his routine. 

“Hopping around and everything, it definitely … helped me to be a better player — kind of to be able to see from a guard perspective what a great center can do, how they can help you, how they can level-up your game,” Tippmann said Thursday. “But it is a good feeling just being able to lock in one position, one technique and kinda not having that little extra mental strain of learning both, going out and executing both each day.” 

A productive season from Tippmann would mark his latest step toward etching a place in the Jets’ long-term plans.

But in the short term, he’ll represent a layer of consistency for a unit that kept shuffling in 2023 and allowed 64 sacks. 

Right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker returned to team periods last week and will gradually increase his rep limit after a torn Achilles.

Right tackle Morgan Moses was trending toward a return at the end of last week, too.

The left side of the line — Tyron Smith at tackle, John Simpson at guard — is already intact. 

And at the center of all that, quite literally, is Tippmann.

He impressed Smith by being “very mature for his age.” Rodgers dished out his own compliment.

It’s what the Jets envisioned when they drafted Tippmann out of Wisconsin.

It’s what they’ll need to help the offense function this season, too. 

Then, and maybe then, Tippmann could be at the crux of a deep postseason run just like Linsley was for Rodgers as a young center. 

“Tippmann has really kinda blossomed this year for sure,” said Vera-Tucker, who also described him as a “technician.” “Yeah, [Tippmann], he’s gonna be a baller.”