The New York Jets found a way to win on Monday night, using an Xavier Gipson 65 yard overtime punt return touchdown to beat the Buffalo Bills to close out Week One. But the win came at a great cost. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers lasted just four plays with his new team, suffering an ankle injury in the first quarter. He was carted off the field and immediately taken to the locker room.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Jets’ head coach Robert Saleh said the team fears Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury. He told reporters “it’s not good.” Rodgers will have an MRI tomorrow that confirms the suspected injury.
Here’s the full quote from Saleh.
The injury happened early in the game with Rodgers landing awkwardly on his ankle after being sacked by Bills’ LB Leonard Floyd.
X-Rays came back negative but they wouldn’t have been able to detect an Achilles tear. The MRI will prove what the team suspects. As our Melanie Friedlander pointed out on Twitter, an Achilles tear is often detectable by physical exam alone. An MRI just confirms the diagnosis.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter after the game, the Jets will do the MRI tomorrow with the belief Rodgers’ Achilles is torn and his season will end.
In the biggest move of the offseason, the Green Bay Packers traded Rodgers to the New York Jets after Rodgers requested a deal following 18 years with the Packers. The trade was to make the Jets Super Bowl contenders and didn’t come cheap. The Jets gave up first, second, and sixth round picks in 2023 and a conditional pick in 2024, a second rounder that becomes a first should Rodgers play 65 percent of the team’s snaps this season. Obviously, that is in severe doubt.
Rodgers, turning 40 in December, is likely to have his season end before it ever began. There will also be questions about his NFL future beyond this season. An Achilles tear is serious for any player, even a 22-year old and a 40-year old quarterback coming off that type of injury would be difficult to return from. Already contemplating retirement, it’s possible Rodgers has played his last down.
There should be official word on Rodgers’ status tomorrow. At this point, if he plays another down in 2023, it’ll be a minor miracle. The same could be said about him ever stepping on a football field again.
While the Jets secured a Week One victory over AFC East rival Buffalo, their schedule is unrelenting for the next several weeks. They travel to Dallas in Week Two before hosting New England in Week Three. After that, they travel host Kansas City in Week 4 before travelling to Denver in Week 5. The Philadelphia Eagles come to town after that.
The Steelers don’t play the Jets this season, the two teams met last season, but the Jets figured to be in the thick of the AFC Wild Card race, if not making a push to win the division. Without Rodgers, the team will turn to QB Zach Wilson, who had an up-and-down performance tonight. Though Pittsburgh has their own problems, the Jets have suddenly gone from contenders to a team searching for a quarterback, the same situation they’ve been in since Joe Namath.
