The New York Jets picked up a massive victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football to end Week 1 of the 2023 season. It should have been the Jets’ statement to the rest of the league that they were going to make some noise this season.
Unfortunately, the win has been overshadowed by a huge loss. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who the Jets acquired in a trade with the Green Bay Packers during the offseason, suffered a devastating injury four plays into his Gang Green career.
Rodgers has been diagnosed with a torn Achilles, which will end his 2023 season after four plays. The Jets will now be turning back to Zach Wilson as their starter and rumors will swirl about potential additions the team will make at quarterback.
The future of Rodgers is now up in the air more than ever. He contemplated retirement this offseason before the Jets acquired him and talks of him walking away from the game will certainly surface again.
An Achilles injury is a difficult one for any player to come back from, let alone someone such as Rodgers, who is turning 40 years old in December. But, there are some people who don’t believe this will be the end of his career.
One of those people is former NFL star Keyshawn Johnson. During a segment of UNDISPUTED on FS1 and Fox Sports, Johnson made a bold prediction about the future of Rodgers and the Jets.
“I’ll see Aaron Rodgers playing again in a New York Jets uniform. I’m betting on that,” Johnson said when talking to Skip Bayless, Michael Irvin and Richard Sherman on Monday morning.
It would certainly be hard to fathom Rodgers going out in that fashion, the lasting image of his Hall of Fame career being him sitting on the turf at MetLife Stadium injured. But, it is certainly fair to wonder if a player who contemplated retirement will have it in him to rehab and come back at 40 years old.
It will be something to keep an eye on as all of the Jets’ short-term plans will now have to be changed. The only positive to come out of this is that New York will be keeping their 2024 first-round pick as Rodgers won’t hit the 65 percent snaps played threshold for it to convey to the Packers.
