“I was heartbroken on September 11 in the locker room thinking my career might be over and that’s how I’m going to go out,” New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers admitted on the “I Can Fly Pod.”
“After all the beauty in the summer on Hard Knocks on a new team and just being in New Jersey. The excitement [of] talking with our amazing fan base and feeling just the energy and the momentum building and then that. I look back now and so much changed in my life for the better,” Rodgers revealed.
Rodgers wishes that the injury never happened but because he can’t change that he admitted that he’s “grateful” for the lessons learned. Although he did make a promise of sorts saying, “the phoenix [will rise] from the ashes” and the result will be “a better version of myself” in 2024 and beyond.
Rodgers’ Injury Is Unprecedented Territory in NFL History
The four-time NFL MVP had a lot to say during his two-and-a-half-hour sit down with the “I Can Fly Pod.”
One of the things that stood out was Rodgers’ unwavering desire to return to the game of football and take the Jets to new heights that haven’t been seen in a long time. Rodgers, 40, will turn 41 in December.
We haven’t seen the back-to-back MVP at the top of his game since 2022 after battling through an injury in 2023 during his final season with the Green Bay Packers and the aforementioned four plays he participated in before blowing out his Achilles with the Jets in 2023.
How will he bounce back? Can he bounce back at his age considering this serious injury? What level of Rodgers are the Jets getting? These are all questions that we don’t have the answers to.
However, Rodgers’ former teammate in Green Bay, Kurt Benkert, doesn’t believe the Achilles injury will be as big of a deal because of his play style.
“He [Rodgers] is going to play well [next season]. His Achilles doesn’t affect his playstyle as much as it would other guys,” Benkert told Jets team reporter Eric Allen. “He is a scrambler but [Rodgers] doesn’t scramble to run, he scrambles to get out of the pocket, he scrambles to get out in space. [Rodgers] doesn’t need that extra burst necessarily to change a game. He just needs to evade that first guy. Typically I feel like with an Achilles yeah you lose some of your burst but he has enough juice in the tank to make guys miss. He has enough savviness to play within that 1-by-1 frame that he talks about like that yard-by-yard box he likes to play in. Like that precision passing game is not going to change.”
Much has been made about #Jets QB Aaron Rodgers’ torn Achilles but @KurtBenkert told @eallenjets that ‘his Achilles doesn’t affect his play style as much as it would other guys’:
‘He’s a scrambler but he doesn’t scramble to run, he scrambles to get out of the pocket & scrambles…
Rodgers Shares Touching Moment From Jets Week 1 Bills Game
The veteran passer said running out of the tunnel at MetLife Stadium with the American flag in his hand on September 11 2023 was “one of the highest highs in my sporting career.” Rodgers revealed that he had never done that before in his life.
Something that has only happened once in Jets franchise history is a 4,000-yard passer. Joe Namath not only did it back in 1967, but he was the first player to ever do it in the NFL. Namath accomplished that feat when there were only 14 games in the regular season.
No other passer in Jets franchise history has done it since. Rodgers has a chance to smash all of the Jets’ single-season franchise records. A-Rod has thrown for over 4,000 yards on 10 separate occasions during his Hall of Fame career.
To accomplish that feat for the No. 11 time, Rodgers only has to average 235 passing yards per contest during the 17-game 2024 regular season.
Only one Jets quarterback has ever thrown for over 30 touchdowns and that was Ryan Fitzpatrick with 31 in 2015. Rodgers has accomplished that feat on eight separate occasions. Additionally, A-Rod has thrown for at least 40 passing touchdowns in three seasons during his career.
The Jets had arguably the worst quarterback play in the league last season. If Rodgers is an average passer in 2024 they are a playoff team. If he’s elite, the green and white could be heading back to the Super Bowl.
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Jets QB Aaron Rodgers Delivers Powerful Message Amid Comeback