Aaron Rodgers continues to keep his eyes on returning to the Jets this season from a torn left Achilles, although the four-time MVP added an important proviso to that ambitious goal during his latest wide-ranging weekly podcast appearance on Tuesday.
“It’s pretty obvious I’m well ahead of the normal protocols when it comes to rehab for this kind of thing … but, obviously I’d like us to be alive and winning for that even to be in the conversation,” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on YouTube. “I don’t think it hurts at all to put that into the manifestation Zeitgeist and with all the modalities that we’re doing, I feel like we’ve put ourselves in a position to make that decision at some point.”
Rodgers was injured four plays into the season opener on Sept. 12 against the Bills, and after undergoing surgery in the ensuing days, he was back on the field at MetLife Stadium on crutches during pregame warm-ups ahead of Sunday night’s 23-20 loss to the Chiefs.
Backup quarterback Zach Wilson played his finest game of the season with Rodgers in attendance, throwing for 245 yards with two touchdown passes.
“I’m very proud of the leadership that Zach showed and I’m proud of the way he played,” Rodgers said. “But I don’t need to pull him aside and tell him anything special. There wasn’t like some pep talk that I gave him that made him play better … I think you’re seeing a lot of great leadership growth from him.”
Rodgers did address the entire team Saturday night during a meeting at its New Jersey hotel about the importance of sticking together, but the 10-time Pro Bowler said “the most disappointing thing of the entire weekend” was that details of his talk got out publicly,
“We need to learn as an organization that some things need to be kept in-house, we have got to tighten the ship up a little bit,” Rodgers said. “Because that’s what’s going to happen. We’re 1-and-3 and people will try to get us to fracture, even after a game that I think there’s some sentiment that there’s some sort of moral victory out there that we hung with the [Super Bowl] champs.
“But being in the facility the last couple of days doing rehab, I feel like the energy was about as good as you can ask for after a loss.”
According to Rodgers, he’s experienced “no setbacks” during his rehab, which has continued this week at the team’s practice facility in Florham Park. He is expected to return to California soon and then come back after the team has a bye week following Sunday’s road game against the Broncos.
Rodgers also said he’s watched Kobe Bryant’s movie “Muse,” which detailed the late NBA star’s return at 35 from a similar injury after eight months of rehab in 2013. While noting that the typical time frame to make it back from this surgery is “usually 6-to-12 months,” the 39-year-old Rodgers doesn’t believe his aim of playing this season is unrealistic.
“My mantra has been just because something has never been done doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Just hasn’t been done yet,” Rodgers said. “The impossible often is looked at as miraculous. So when I say I’m leaving room for miracles, it’s leaving room to do something that hasn’t been done before.”
Of course, the 24-year-old Wilson will have to continue to play well for the Jets to remain in playoff contention late in the season.
“Last week everyone was calling for Zach to be benched, from [Joe] Namath to you name it. And this week he goes out and puts some good film on tape and now what are they saying about him?” Rodgers said. “It’s an overreaction league, so I think everybody needs to take a couple of deep breaths. We’re four games into the season and there’s a lot of football left.”
Rodgers described it as “a fun moment” and “pretty special” to be on the field before Sunday’s game and to “feel the love” from the fans while he watched from a luxury suite.
Imagine the reaction if he makes it back to the active roster before the end of 2023.
“I have some things working against me. I’m 39 years old, I’m the oldest player in the league, and a lot of people have a really hard time coming back from this,” Rodgers said. “However, I haven’t really paid any attention to that stuff. I just kind of have been making my own protocols and my own timetables,
“And with obviously the blessing of my [doctors] … we’ll attack this rehab as hard as we can and then see where we are in a couple of months.”
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