Fresh and wide-eyed, Jaguars rookie quarterback Jake Luton had himself a dazzling NFL debut.
Now, he’s preparing to make his second career start against an all-time great who he grew up rooting for: Aaron Rodgers.
“It’s pretty surreal. He’s a guy I have a lot of respect for, was a big fan of growing up and a huge fan of his game,” the 24-year-old Luton said Wednesday, via team transcript. “A lot of things that he does, no one else really can do. He’s a wizard with the football in a lot of ways. Like I said, [I have] a lot of respect for him. It’ll be really exciting to get out there and get to play ball against him.”
A sixth-round pick out of Oregon State, Luton made a strong showing in his first NFL action, throwing for 304 yards and a touchdown and rushing for another score in a narrow loss to the Texans in Week 9.
Now, he’ll face an NFC heavyweight in Green Bay and a surefire Hall of Famer in the 36-year-old Rodgers, who’s coming off an astounding four-touchdown effort on Thursday against the 49ers.
With a 12-year age gap, Luton didn’t spend yesteryear as a Packer backer, necessarily, but rooted for a pair of legendary quarterbacks.
“I wouldn’t say I was a Packers fan, but I grew up a big fan of [Brett] Favre and then Rodgers stepped in and I was a big fan of Rodgers, so [I] definitely watched the quarterbacks that have played there over my childhood,” Luton said.
