When the New York Jets swung a deal to acquire quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers this past offseason, dreams of a Super Bowl danced in their heads.

However, those aspirations were unfortunately shattered when Rodgers tore his Achilles on the Jets’ first offensive series of Week 1.

Rodgers has been making remarkable progress in his recovery from the injury and has insisted that he wants to return this season, which would be unprecedented given the severity of the injury and the typical timetable associated with it.

Jets general manager Joe Douglas was diplomatic in his response when asked about Rodgers’ status earlier this week.

“Obviously, I’m not going to put words in Aaron’s mouth,” Douglas told reporters on Tuesday, via SNY. “We’re obviously excited to see him progress through his rehab. Look, we’re taking everything day by day. Certainly, we’ll all be excited when he’s back in the fold just as a person and the leader that he is. But I’m not a doctor, so I can’t go into the specifics of the rehab, but yeah, we’re expecting Aaron to be back [with the team].”

Wait, so does that mean Rodgers could be back this season?

“I’m not putting anything out there like that,” Douglas said when asked that question. “That’s not my place. I’m not a doctor. I don’t have any breaking news for you like that.”

Of course, Douglas could have merely been stating that he expects Rodgers back in a Jets uniform at some point, as the future Hall-of-Famer is under contract with New York through the end of next season.

Either way, this is certainly a very intriguing story to monitor.

The Jets have managed to go 4-3 without Aaron Rodgers and will aim to win their fourth straight game when they take on the Los Angeles Chargers next Monday.

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