How good can Garrett Wilson be? Well, Aaron Rodgers already expects the same of him as he did Davante Adams

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The best passing offenses in the NFL often pair a top-flight quarterback with a dominant target in the passing game. The New York Jets appear to have that with future first-ballot Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers and second-year emerging superstar Garrett Wilson.

Wilson was borderline unguardable during the Jets’ Wednesday joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, making several big plays against what projects to be one of the better defenses in the league.

The Rodgers-to-Wilson connection already looks advanced in the limited time that they’ve spent together and their potential to raze the NFL is apparent as they continue to stack practices and reps from day to day. In particular, the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year gave Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis III fits in team work and one-on-ones.

Rodgers worked with a handful of great receivers throughout his time with the Green Bay Packers and seems to think that Wilson is next up on the list.

“The talent is really impressive. He makes difficult things look easy,” Rodgers said. “Just the person that he is too. Receivers are an interesting personality. They are usually the most talented guys on the team, athletically. Everybody wants the football, everybody wants to be on the field, everybody thinks they’re open all the time. I’ve had some great ones over the years who are great people as well, and he’s one of those guys. He’s a great person.”

As much as Rodgers and Wilson have hit the ground running to start this new football season, Rodgers noted there are still things he and Wilson need to work on before they reach the level of chemistry that Rodgers has had with other great receivers.

“The talent is there, it’s just the communication, the non-verbal stuff that’s starting to come,” Rodgers said. “We had a mishap in the two-minute [drill] today, which is a good learning experience, but we haven’t made the same mistake twice … He’s so eager to learn and so talented with the football.”

It appears that, with time, Rodgers plans on featuring Wilson a lot through the distribution of his passing targets, alluding to his relationship with former Packers wide receiver Davante Adams.

“I used to have a rule with Davante [Adams] where I would give Davante a little extra tick,” Rodgers said. “I know if I did that, he’s going to get open. He’s really difficult to cover and I have to give that to Garrett, too.”

The hype Wilson is receiving has been earned based on his performance, and he isn't lacking for confidence. (Did he troll Sean Payton with his sideline outfit during Saturday's preseason game? Wilson said he was advised not to talk about it.)

Still, he’s taking everything in stride and staying grounded about how he and the rest of the Jets’ offense are performing right now, which was generally a mixed day against a stout Buccaneers defense.

“I don’t want to overcomplicate, I just want to do my job,” Wilson said. “I feel like we got a special group, a great play-caller, a great quarterback and all the pieces in place. For me, I’ll do my job and when February and January comes we’ll see where we’re at. I feel like if I’ve done my job and I can look at the film and say I’ve done my job, we’ll be in a good place.”

Wilson doesn’t seem too fazed at the idea of playing in a new offense in his second year in the league. Having a quarterback like Rodgers helps accelerate any learning process, but veteran wide receivers like Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb who have played with Rodgers before have been giving Wilson tips on how to further his on-field relationship with the quarterback, and help him out in learning the ins-and-outs of Nathaniel Hackett’s offense.

“Having Allen and Cobb, they make it easy on me too,” Wilson said. “I’m able to bounce my thoughts off of them, I have like a translator for Aaron and some of the lingo he uses. Cobb and Allen work as those translators sometimes. I’m in a blessed situation right now to not have too much pressure on me to learn stuff all at once and to have some people around me that know the offense.”

Wilson was the best skill player on the Jets last season, racking up 83 receptions for 1,103 yards and four touchdowns during his first year in the NFL. With a beefed-up supporting cast and Rodgers throwing him the ball, he could go nuclear this season and cement himself as one of the best wide receivers in the league on one of the best teams in the league.

There's that much room to grow.

“That’s the exciting part of it,” Wilson said. “It’s cool, you know. I’ve been on both sides of the ‘on-paper’ teams and you gotta go play. Right now, we’re not in a spot to do what we aspire to do, but that’s the beauty of it. It doesn’t happen overnight, it doesn’t happen just by a snap of the fingers. You gotta put in the work and you gotta find purpose in each and every day to go make that happen.”