Aaron Rodgers and Robert Saleh disagree about the cadence that led to false starts in the Jets’ loss to the Broncos

After two straight wins, the New York Jets stumbled in Week 4 with a 10-9 home loss to the Denver Broncos.

The Jets scored no touchdowns and settled for three field goals from Greg Zuerlein. The weather was cold and rainy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers wasn’t at his sharpest, completing 57% (24 of 42) of his passes for 225 yards. He was also fired five times.

However, self-inflicted mistakes were also a major factor in the Jets’ offensive ineptitude. The offense called five false start penalties on Sunday, two each by running back Breece Hall and left guard John Simpson. Tyron Smith jumped early for the fifth penalty.

After the game, Jets head coach Robert Saleh said offensive cadence was an issue. Even though he doesn’t mention Rodgers by name, it’s the quarterback who calls out the snap count.

“We have to figure out if we are good enough or ready to handle the full cadence,” Saleh said. “Cadence was not a problem throughout the camp.” We felt our operations were going pretty well. Obviously I took a big step back today.”

As expected, Rodgers didn’t entirely agree with his coach when asked about Saleh’s comments and whether or not his cadence should be dialed back.

“That’s a possibility,” Rodgers said. “The other option is to hold them accountable. I mean, we didn’t have a problem. We had a false start. Morgan (Moses) had a false start up to that point, I think.”

“It was a weapon. We use them every day in practice,” he added. “We rarely have a false start. And having five today… Yeah, that seems like an outlier. I don’t know if we need to make mass changes because of some sort of outlier.”

The Jets had 13 total penalties on Sunday, costing them 90 yards. False starts weren’t the only reason for the team’s defeat.

But any hint of tension between Rodgers and Saleh will send the media covering the Jets into an uproar. That came up in the 24-3 win over the New England Patriots in Week 3, when Saleh tried to hug Rodgers, but the QB pushed him back to keep his distance.

Rodgers makes a compelling argument by pointing out that false starts haven’t been a problem in the Jets’ last three games. But five penalties raise questions that Saleh tried to answer during his post-match media conference and that he may want to address next week.

If false starts aren’t a problem in the Jets’ next few games, concerns about Rodgers’ cadence will disappear. However, if they move forward and Rodgers expresses his frustration on the field because of it, Saleh and the coaching staff may say they were right and tensions could rise. Either this is actually an outlier, or it’s something worth keeping an eye on for media and fans.