Aaron Rodgers‘ aspirations for resurrecting the New York Jets lasted simply 4 snaps.
Rodgers’ and the Jets’ cruelest fears had been realized on Tuesday as an MRI revealed he suffered a torn left Achilles in Monday night time’s sport towards the Buffalo Payments and can miss the rest of the 2023 season, NFL Community Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported.
Jets head coach Robert Saleh confirmed Rodgers’ damage when he met with the New York media on Tuesday afternoon. Rodgers was formally positioned on injured reserve later within the day, the group introduced.
“I really feel extra for Aaron than anybody,” Saleh mentioned. “He has invested a lot into this group. A lot into this journey that he is launched into and desirous to be a part of what we have got going right here, and the way a lot he is invested into not solely this group however his teammates, himself, this fanbase, this metropolis. I’ve loads of feelings for him. … It is actually all about him. It’s. I do not take a look at it like woe is me right here for (the) New York group. I believe guys are enthusiastic about having the ability to step in and proceed the issues we have been constructing. However loads of damage for Aaron.”
Saleh confirmed that Rodgers would require season-ending surgical procedure, however he didn’t not have any particulars on the timeline for a process.
It is a crushing blow on the onset of what was hoped to be a renaissance season for the Jets and, moreover, bears questioning what’s subsequent for Rodgers, who turns 40 on Dec. 2.
Going ahead, 2021 NFL Draft No. 2 total decide Zach Wilson would be the Jets’ beginning quarterback, which Saleh introduced Monday night time after he mentioned the group feared Rodgers had ruptured his Achilles.
Saleh reaffirmed Wilson’s new standing as QB1 on Tuesday.
“I do need to make it very clear: Zach’s our quarterback,” Saleh mentioned. “We have got loads of religion in Zach, we’re actually enthusiastic about his alternative.”
The lack of Rodgers hung over the Jets’ dramatic overtime win on Monday, because the long-beleaguered franchise was driving an offseason of optimism right into a 2023 marketing campaign that crashed earlier than it obtained out of park.
Rodgers, who hasn’t missed a sport on account of damage since 2017, was a part of solely 4 performs (one which resulted in a penalty), along with his abbreviated stat line in his Jets debut studying: 0 of 1 with a 39.6 QB score. His third dropback noticed him pressured simply as his first two did. This time, Payments go rusher Leonard Floyd obtained a maintain of him and wrestled him down with Rodgers’ left foot catching on the turf and his Achilles tearing within the course of.
The four-time Most Useful Participant initially obtained as much as his ft after which sat again down.
Rodgers was carted to the locker room after a visit contained in the blue medical tent. He was proven in a strolling boot on his method to X-rays on the printed.
Initially deemed an ankle damage that got here up detrimental after the X-rays, Rodgers’ Achilles was the actual wrongdoer.
The Jets have not put collectively a successful season since 2015 or clinched a playoff berth since 2010. Seeking to change all that, Rodgers was acquired in a large offseason trade with the Inexperienced Bay Packers, who will now receive a second-round decide subsequent yr following Rodgers’ season-ending damage (Inexperienced Bay was set to obtain a first-rounder if Rodgers performed in at the least 65 p.c of snaps this yr).
That commerce was envisioned to finish New York’s playoff drought, however now, as soon as extra, Wilson shall be appeared on to be the savior.
The BYU product is 8-14 as a starter over his earlier two seasons. The widespread theme in 2022 was that Wilson’s poor play held again a New York squad bolstered by a tenacious protection.
New York’s protection remains to be excellent, as evidenced by Monday’s efficiency. Working again Breece Hall appeared superb in his return from a torn ACL, and there are successful items throughout Wilson.
The Jets are technically 1-0 with Rodgers as a starter. Will their grand expectations crumble in his absence, or will they be capable of rally with out him as they did Monday?
A high-profile matchup with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 would be the first affirmation of what lies forward for Gang Inexperienced.
