Saturday, May 11, will mark eight months since New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers ruptured his Achilles. When OTAs start nine days later, he will be a full-go.
According to Jets head coach Robert Saleh, the four-time MVP will have “no restrictions” once the practices begin on May 20.
“Once phase three hits, we’re not anticipating any restrictions from what we can and can’t do with him,” Saleh said Friday at rookie minicamp, via ESPN.
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New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks on during the game against the Houston Texans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Dec 10, 2023. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
Phase three will be 10 practices in a four-week period when teams do 11-on-11 non-contact work.
“The guy can still sling it,” Saleh said of Rodgers. “Obviously, he’s still working through his rehab, but there are no issues on the trajectory on which he’s going.”
The news should come as no surprise, as Rodgers even returned to practice in November.
On Dec. 1, the quarterback wasn’t worried about an early return at all.
“My thing is: What’s the worst that can happen?” he told reporters at the time. “Something unfortunate again, and then you just slow the rehab down. I think by my own timetable that if you take the rehab slower and a little more deliberate — five months, six months max — is probably the length to get back to 100 percent if you really take it slow. So, in my opinion, there’s not, like, a downside to coming back and reinjuring it.”
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers poses with his jersey after a news conference at the team’s training facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, on April 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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But the Jets’ losing continued, and everyone decided it didn’t make sense for him to get back on the field. Rodgers has said that if the Jets were in the playoff hunt by the time of his hopeful return date of Christmas Eve, he may have returned.
New York acquired Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers last year after he spent 18 seasons there, but on the fourth play as a Jet, Rodgers was sacked by Buffalo Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd. Rodgers stood up, but sat down and rolled onto his back in what became an instant nightmare instead of what was supposed to be a party (the Jets did go on to win the game on a walk-off punt return for a touchdown in overtime).
Buffalo Bills defensive end Leonard Floyd sacks New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers early in the first quarter of the Jets’ home opener at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 11, 2023. (Danielle Parhizkaran / NorthJersey.com / Imagn)
The Jets ultimately finished 7-10, missing out on the playoffs for a 13th straight season, the longest active playoff drought in professional sports.
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