Last week we broke down Aaron Rodgers’ injury on Monday Night Football and correctly surmised that he had suffered an Achilles tendon rupture. Since then, the team confirmed that Rodgers ruptured his Achilles and the quarterback posted on social media that he underwent successful surgery to address the tear. Rodgers also cryptically noted that “I shall rise yet again,” leading many to ponder if he could potentially return to the team for a postseason run.
With Rodgers suffering the injury in Week 1, could he possibly get back on the field before the season is done if the Jets make a run in the playoffs? We take a closer look at that possibility in today’s blog.
Could Rodgers Return?
On the surface, it seems impossible that Rodgers could return to the field this season. After all, the standard recovery timeline for an Achilles tendon rupture is 6-9 months, and oftentimes it takes longer for athletes to make it back to a professional level. Normally it would be out of the question, but many people are pointing to Cam Akers as an example of the type of recovery a world class athlete can have when receiving the best medical care.
Cam Akers is a running back for the Los Angeles Rams, and he tore his Achilles in July of last year. Akers was able to return to the field in five and a half months, playing his first game in the final week of the regular season. If we apply a similar timeline to Rodgers, we see that he tore his Achilles exactly five months to the day away from Super Bowl LVIII. In other words, if Rodgers could shave a little time off his recovery and the Jets could make a run to the Super Bowl, there is an outside shot that he would be healthy enough to play in the game, on paper.
With that said, all signs point to this simply not being a realistic possibility. Cam Akers was 23 when he tore his ACL, whereas Rodgers will turn 40 this December, so him shaving off any more time from Akers’ miraculous recovery timeline seems almost impossible. It also seems unlikely that Rodgers’ conditioning would be back at a professional level by this point, as it isn’t even safe to sprint on a surgically-repaired Achilles for four months after surgery, meaning he couldn’t run until mid-January at the earliest.
Another thing that makes his return incredibly unlikely is that the timeline relies on the Jets making the Super Bowl. While they were able to go on to win without Rodgers in the first game, they were blown out yesterday and certainly didn’t look like the best team in their conference. They are currently 45:1 to win their conference, which means that odds-makers think they have roughly a 2 percent chance at making the Super Bowl.
We don’t like to talk in certainties, especially when it comes to medical issues, but we’re willing to say that Aaron Rodgers has taken his last snap for the Jets this season. There are simply too many factors working against him. He should certainly be able to overcome this injury and get back under center next year if he so chooses, but his 2023 season is over. We expect him to rise again, but it won’t be this season. We wish him all the best in his recovery.