Aaron Rodgers’ regular-season debut as the quarterback of the New York Jets will come in prime time.
With the entire NFL schedule set for release later in the day, the league announced that the first Monday Night Football telecast of the season will feature Rodgers and the Jets facing off against quarterback Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.
After 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers was traded to the Jets this offseason in a blockbuster deal that will have a major impact on the 2023 schedule.
Rodgers and the Jets have already been selected to play the Miami Dolphins in the first-ever NFL game on Black Friday, which will air on Amazon Prime Video.
The Jets are looking to end the NFL’s longest current playoff drought, 12 years. The addition of Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP in Green Bay, is seen as a significant step toward that goal. Not to mention raising the team’s national profile considerably.
The maximum number of prime-time games allowed for a team is six, with the option of a seventh contest being flexed.
“I think the league would have no hesitation putting them in the maximum number of prime-time games,” NFL vice president of broadcast planning Mike North tells USA TODAY Sports.