It’s been nearly a day since an MRI confirmed that Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles in the Jets’ Monday Night Football game against the Bills, indicating that the 39-year-old will miss the remainder of the season.
Rodgers’s injury has been the biggest headline surrounding the franchise, despite the Jets registering an overtime win against the Bills in Week 1 on Xavier Gipson’s miraculous 65-yard punt return for a touchdown. As the Jets (1–0) seek to move forward with Zach Wilson and earn another victory in Week 2, coach Robert Saleh told reporters on Wednesday he would be surprised if Monday was the last time the 39-year-old four-time NFL MVP takes the field in his career.
“I would be shocked if this is the way he's going to go out,” Saleh said, per Antwan Staley of the New York Daily News.
Rodgers, who is in his first season with the Jets after a long tenure with the Packers, played only four snaps in Monday’s game before suffering the gruesome injury on a sack by the Bills’ Leonard Floyd.
Robert Saleh on Aaron Rodgers: "I would be shocked if this is the way he's going to go out." #Jets
— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) September 13, 2023
While Floyd’s hit was not vicious, multiple online videos showed a visible pop in Rodgers’s left calf. Following the hit, Rodgers stood up but immediately sat back down on the field, suggesting that he knew the injury was critical. After a few moments on the ground, Rodgers was helped off the field.
The Jets will go on the road to face the Cowboys—a team coming off a shutout win against the Giants—on Sunday.
