Everyone may have expected Davante Adams to be the Jets player to catch the 500th touchdown of Aaron Rodgers’ career, but it was тιԍнт end Tyler Conklin who got the honor.
Conklin caught a 5-yard pᴀss from Rodgers early in the second quarter to give Rodgers the milestone touchdown.
“It was a really cool moment to be a part of,” Conklin said. “I’m happy I could do my part and be a part of it. We’ll see what the future holds.”
Rodgers had been stuck on 499 for two weeks after not throwing a touchdown last week in Buffalo, but he got No. 500 out of the way early in the 32-20 Jets win over the Dolphins.
“It was a play earlier in the week that in the red zone if they’re in a certain coverage that [route] over the middle is going to be open,” Conklin said. “When they rotated to one-high, I’m like it’s not going to be open. Then he scrambled and it worked out.”
Conklin triggered a $250,000 bonus in his contract with his first catch, giving him 50 catches this season.
Conklin’s teammates were giving him congratulations in the locker room after the game.
Conklin, who got one full season with Rodgers as his quarterback, said he wonders what his career could be like if he played with Rodgers throughout it.
“As a тιԍнт end, you see all the great тιԍнт ends and all the тιԍнт ends who had successful careers and you tend to see them linked with a quarterback,” Conklin said, “whether it’s Patrick Mahomes and [Travis] Kelce, [Rob Gronkowski] and [Tom] Brady. Maybe if I had an opportunity to play with him for a little while, maybe it would have been interesting to see how things went.”
Conklin is scheduled to be a free agent in March and Rodgers’ future with the Jets is uncertain, making it unlikely the two will play together again, at least with the Jets.
With the 2024 season complete, the Jets’ 2025 opponents are set.
The Jets’ home games will be the Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, Browns, Steelers, Falcons, Panthers, Broncos and Cowboys.
Their road games will be with the Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, Ravens, Bengals, Saints, Buccaneers and Jaguars.
The dates and times will be announced in the spring.
Despite the victory, the Jets are still set to pick seventh in the draft, the same spot they entered the week in.
Based on playing an easier schedule, the Jets finished ahead of three other 5-12 teams in the draft order.
Had they lost, they would have picked sixth.
Adams, who went over 1,000 yards for the fifth straight season, caught a touchdown in the fourth quarter from Rodgers.
That was their 83rd touchdown connection, which is third in NFL history.
They pᴀssed Dan Marino and Mark Clayton.
Only Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison and Steve Young and Jerry Rice have more.
