New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to miss the rest of the 2023 NFL season with an Achilles tear, per reports
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers will miss the rest of the 2023 NFL season after suffering a complete tear of his left Achilles tendon, according to multiple sources.
CNN has reached out to the Jets and Rodgers’ representatives for details.
The Jets indirectly referenced the bleak outlook of the injury on social media, posting on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Not the way any of us wanted it to go, but we know the commitment you’ve made to this team will continue to impact us moving forward. Get well soon, Aaron Rodgers.”
Jets head coach Robert Saleh is expected to address the media in a previously scheduled virtual availability at 3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The four-time Most Valuable Player was carted off the field after suffering the injury on just the fourth play of his Jets debut in the team’s Monday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills.
The injury occurred when Rodgers was sacked by Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd.
The 39-year-old hobbled up for a few moments before going back down to the ground. He was attended to by Jets medical staff before being helped off the field at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
After being looked at in the blue medical tent on the sidelines, the 39-year-old was taken to the locker room on a cart, and he missed the rest of the game.
Rodgers’ back-up, Zach Wilson, came in to fill the quarterback void and led the team to a 22-16 overtime victory over the Bills after undrafted rookie wide receiver Xavier Gipson returned a punt 65 yards for a walk-off touchdown.
Rodgers’ most meaningful action of the evening turned out to be running out onto the field before the game holding the US flag in a tribute to the September 11 terrorist attacks, with the game being held 22 years after the incidents which saw 2,977 people killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The reaction to Rodgers’ injury on social media was filled with emotion, with many Jets fans mourning the loss of the player they thought might be a final piece in a Super Bowl-winning team. ESPN host and Jets fan Mike Greenberg said on Tuesday that the emotional rollercoaster of the last six months makes this such a painful moment.
Rodgers being tended to on the field before he was taken off and missed the remainder of the game.Seth Wenig/AP
“I want more than anyone to be furious today, but the reality is, sometimes things just happen. There really isn’t anybody to be mad at,” Greenberg said on ‘Get Up.’ “Football is inherently a violent and dangerous game, injuries are going to take place 100% of the time and you just have to hope that yours is not the team, if you are a fan, whose season is destroyed by an injury.
“Half the contenders in the league at a minimum would have their contention taken away if their quarterback went down. Half the teams in the league could not overcome an injury like this. The Jets built absolutely everything in their team, in their season, the entire organization shaped around Aaron Rodgers and he deserved it.
“From the moment they got him, he has been invested beyond anyone’s wildest dreams … The idea that his season would be over in four plays never entered my mind.”
