What is a cutting block? Why didn’t Aaron Rodgers like playing, even before the injury?

Occasionally, an offensive lineman will dive into a defender’s legs, appearing to fall, and the defender wanders freely toward the midfielder. If the quarterback isn’t actually throwing the ball, he’s probably getting hit or pressured. This is called a cut block and this is technically how it is supposed to look – but not in this final way.

There’s something about cut blocks that makes it look like a surrender, but the idea is for the offensive lineman to hold off the defender long enough and remove the linebacker from the quarterback’s passing line, making it easier to fire off a quick pass. That last part is important – the quarterback needs to get rid of the ball quickly.

But when the cutting block fails, it… truly to fail.

That’s what happened on Aaron Rodgers’ first pass attempt against the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. New York Jets right tackle Mickey Becton dove into the defensive end of Gregory Rousseau’s legs, it didn’t work, Rodgers was hit and threw the pass away toward the sideline.

Two plays later, it happened again. Duane Brown tackled Leonard Floyd’s legs, it didn’t work and Rodgers was sacked. When he got up, he was limping. He looked to the sideline, shook his head, and returned to the floor. This is the moment Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon, ending his season, and potentially evaporating any hopes the Jets had of winning a Super Bowl.

Rodgers was supposed to be the Jets’ savior, the one who ended their 12-year drought, giving them a chance to win a championship for the first time since 1969. Instead, his season ended, right after it had begun.

In the days and weeks leading up to the season, Rodgers expressed an aversion to plays that involve cutting off offensive linemen at the line of scrimmage, multiple team sources said, because it forces Rodgers to get rid of the ball quickly rather than improvise. Which he loves to do. The sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss team affairs publicly.

“There’s no opportunity to extend the play because the defensive lineman is going to get up quickly after the cut,” said an NFL assistant coach from another team, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about the Jets’ play call. “If you cut the ball, you have to throw it quickly or get rid of the ball.”

That’s why Rodgers doesn’t like those plays. Some Jets players and coaches question whether the turf at MetLife Stadium had more to do with Rodgers’ injury than the play, although coach Robert Saleh said Tuesday he did not believe the turf was a factor. However, it’s worth noting that Rodgers didn’t like being called cut blocks when he played for the Green Bay Packers either.

“I blocked Aaron for a decade,” Packers offensive lineman David Bakhtiari said Wednesday, speaking to . The athleteMatt Schneidman. “I’ve gotten a lot of talk – from him about cutting and pretty much the general rule, at least working with him, is don’t cut unless Aaron says so in the huddle or at the line of scrimmage. And that’s not a dig at Aaron. … When people were defending and saying This is what they’re supposed to do. I was like, ‘Well, obviously there’s a misunderstanding. Because if your coach is asking you to do that, he doesn’t know Aaron. And I know for a fact that Aaron definitely brought this up. So I’m like, ‘You’re not all “On the same page. Again, that’s not what caused (the cyst). There are a lot of other factors.”

The Jets hired offensive line coach Keith Carter this offseason to replace John Benton, who left along with offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. Carter, who also holds the title of run game coordinator, has different preferences in coaching his offensive linemen than Benton and came to the Jets with a reputation for using cut blocks more frequently than most offensive line coaches in the NFL.

One team source said the Jets run a lot of the “fast game” in their offense, So he’s built into offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett’s system. Those two plays, with passes blocked by Brown and Becton, came early in the game, meaning they were on the Jets’ scripted plays on Monday night. The scripted plays are usually the first 15 to 20 plays of the game that are pre-determined and agreed upon. Rodgers had a say in which plays would be part of that scripted portion of the game, so he had to realize the cut blocks were coming.

“I’m sure he understands the reasoning behind that,” another Jets source said.

Ultimately, Rodgers will likely keep the ball for a long time either way. Saleh said after the match that in the play in which Rodgers was injured, “the play extended beyond the timing of the play.”

Saleh said it wasn’t Brown’s fault.

“You fight until the end, but when it extends to what it is, it’s just a very unfortunate play,” Saleh said.

However, the 38-year-old Brown was emotional in the dressing room after the game, aware that it was his tackle that led to the dismissal that ended Rodgers’ season.

“It was a cut block. He went to cut the defensive end, made a good play, came home, and Aaron got hurt,” Brown said. “I’ve got to execute the cut better.”

Internally, the Jets coaching staff is committed to using cut blocks, even if they don’t work according to plan on the first two plays. Jets coaches view the cut block as an effective technique for slowing down the pass rush off the edge. They only use it sparingly, on plays that are expected to involve a quick pass, to help with offensive tackles.

Even if Rodgers’ injury wasn’t due to a cut, that doesn’t make it any easier to stomach.

“I have the utmost respect and love for Aaron,” Brown said. “I just hate not seeing him there. … We got the win, but (losing him) in the first round of the first season, it’s not ideal.

(Photo: Mike Staub/Getty Images)

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