A quarterback can dream, right? And Jordan Travis has every reason to think he can be the successor to Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets.
The team kicked off its rookie camp on Saturday, with all the draftees and free agents reporting to Florham Park, N.J., and working together for the first time. Travis did a press availability at Jets headquarters as the team’s de facto QB3. Although he’s still not cleared to work out, Travis certainly can talk about his role. And of course, he got questions about any future plans he has with the Jets.
Is he thinking about a timeline as to when he’ll take over the offense from Rodgers?
“Yes, sir. I do think about that a lot,” Travis told a reporter. “But right now I’m just focused where my feet are, just getting healthy and getting everybody around me better, being a great teammate.”
Travis then spent the first practice either standing on the sideline holding a football, or taking spins on a stationary bike.
Travis suffered a severe ankle injury on Nov. 18, when he was starting for Florida State and playing a late non-conference game against North Alabama.
Although he still is recovering from the injury, the Jets selected Travis in the fifth round of the NFL Draft last Saturday. He is expected to be cleared, medically, for the start of training camp in July.
Travis definitely is a developmental project, but there’s no reason to believe he doesn’t have an NFL future. Jets coach Robert Saleh described Travis as a “ball of clay.” There’s no rush to get him onto the field.
“He’s a tremendously talented young man and extremely gifted, especially athletically,” Saleh said of Travis. “He’s got a lot of work to do for sure, especially with tying his lower half to his arm and all that good stuff, but he’s a gifted athlete.”
Rodgers, who is spending the weekend at the Kentucky Derby, will be a full participant when the Jets start Phase 3 of OTAs later this month. The practices are non-contact, but NFL teams can go through 11-on-11 drills.
The 40-year-old Rodgers is going into his second season with the Jets. But he only played four snaps last season after rupturing his left Achilles. The team traded Zach Wilson, who started in Rodgers’ place, to the Broncos and signed Tyrod Taylor, a journeyman QB. Taylor is starting his 14th season in the NFL.
So there definitely is time for Travis to develop.
“I’m trying to get ready as fast as possible,” Travis told reporters. “Obviously, that’s the goal. But obviously I want to be 100 percent, too. Trying to get 100 percent and getting better everyday.”
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