Ahead of the New York Jets' Week 18 finale and with his NFL playing future far from certain, Aaron Rodgers expressed "gratitude" on Wednesday for his tenure as quarterback of the team. Rodgers, 41, shared a positive view on his time with the Jets despite a lack of success unbecoming of the former NFL MVP and organizational instability emblematic of reported dysfunction within the franchise.

This isn't to say Rodgers is suddenly a bad teammate in the eyes of his locker room. New York's starting quarterback was given the "Most Inspirational" award last year when he suffered a torn Achilles four plays into his Jets debut.