What’s a cut block? Why Aaron Rodgers didn’t like the play, even before injury

Sometimes an offensive lineman dives at a defender’s legs, which looks like falling, and the defender strolls freely toward the quarterback. If the quarterback hasn’t thrown the ball already, he’s probably getting hit, or pressured. That’s called a cut block and that’s how it’s technically supposed to look — just not with that ending.

There’s something about a cut block that makes it look like a give-up, but the idea is for the offensive lineman to deter the defender just long enough and remove the O-lineman 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 a cut block fails, it really fails.

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

Two plays later, it happened again. Duane Brown dove at defensive end Leonard Floyd’s legs, it didn’t work and Rodgers was sacked. When he stood up, he was limping. He looked to the sideline, shook his head, and went back to the ground. That’s the moment Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon, ending his season, and any hopes the Jets had of winning the Super Bowl likely evaporated.

Rodgers was supposed to be the Jets’ savior, the one to end their 12-year playoff drought, to give them a shot at winning a championship for the first time since 1969. Instead his season ended, just after it started.

In the days and weeks leading up to the season, Rodgers had expressed his distaste for plays involving offensive linemen cut-blocking 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 likes to do. The sources were granted anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss team matters publicly.

“There’s no chance to extend the play because the defensive lineman will get up quickly after the cut block,” said an assistant NFL coach from another team, who was granted anonymity to talk freely about the Jets’ play call. “If you cut, you’ve gotta throw it quick or get rid of the ball.”

And that’s why Rodgers doesn’t like those plays. Some Jets players and coaches wonder if the MetLife Stadium turf had more to do with Rodgers’ injury than the play, though coach Robert Saleh said Tuesday he didn’t believe the turf was a factor. Still, it’s worth noting that Rodgers didn’t like cut blocks getting called when he played for the Green Bay Packers, either.

“I blocked for Aaron for a decade,” Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari said Wednesday, talking to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. “I’ve gotten a lot of s— from him about cutting and pretty much the rule of thumb, at least working with him, is you don’t cut unless Aaron says so in the huddle or at the line of scrimmage. And that’s no dig at Aaron. … When people were defending and saying that’s what they’re supposed to do, I was like: Well, clearly there’s miscommunication. Because if your coach is telling you to do that, then he doesn’t know Aaron. And I know for a fact, Aaron definitely has probably brought it up. So I’m like: You’re not all on the same page. Again, that’s not the reason why (the sack) happened. There’s so many other factors.”

The Jets hired offensive line coach Keith Carter this offseason to replace John Benton, who departed 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 he came to the Jets with a reputation for using cut blocks more frequently than most NFL offensive line coaches.

The Jets run a lot of “quick game” in their offense, one team source said, so it’s built into offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett’s system. Those two plays, with Brown and Becton pass-blocking, came early in the game, which means they were in the Jets’ scripted plays for Monday night. Scripted plays are typically the first 15 to 20 plays in a game that are predetermined and agreed upon. Rodgers had a say in which plays would be a part of that scripted portion of the game, so he had to be aware the cut blocks were coming.

“I’m sure he understands the reasoning for it,” a different Jets team source said.

Ultimately, Rodgers likely held onto the ball too long in both instances. Saleh said after the game that, on the play where Rodgers was injured, the “play extended further than the timing of the play.”

Saleh said it wasn’t Brown’s fault.

“You fight until the end of the down,” Saleh said, “but when it extends the way that it did, it’s just a very, very unfortunate play.”

The 38-year-old Brown, though, was emotional in the locker room after the game, knowing it was his block that led to the sack that ended Rodgers’ season.

“It was a cut block. Went to cut the defensive end, he played it well, and he got home, and Aaron got injured,” Brown said. “I gotta execute the cut better.”

Internally, the Jets coaching staff stands by the usage of cut blocks, even if they didn’t work according to plan on those first couple of plays. Jets coaches view the cut block as an effective technique to slow down the pass rush off the edge. They only use it sparingly, on plays that are expected to include a quick pass, to help the offensive tackles.

Even if Rodgers’ injury didn’t happen because of the cut block, that doesn’t make it any easier to stomach.

“I got all the respect and love for Aaron,” Brown said. “I just hate to not see him out there. … We got the win, but (to lose him on) the first drive of the debut season, it’s not ideal.”

(Photo: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)

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