In the off-season, the New York Jets picked up veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers was going into his 18th season in the NFL, but was not on good terms with the Green Bay Packers, so he left for the Jets. The Jets had a good offense, but their quarterback–Zach Wilson–was holding them back. There was a lot of anticipation leading up to Aaron Rodgers’ first start with a new team for the first time in his long career.
Come September 11, 2023, the Jets and Bills were getting ready to kick off their season with a Monday Night Football Game. The Bills took the field first, and did not score.
Aaron Rodgers would come from the sidelines.
The energy in MetLife stadium was through the roof. He had 1 passing attempt and handed it off twice before tragedy struck. Leonard Floyd easily got through the left tackle, and started sprinting straight for the 39 year old quarterback.
Rodgers didn’t know that Floyd was there, because his back was turned to the left side.
Floyd attempted to tackle, and Rodgers tried to run. This would end horribly for Rodgers. As Rodgers tried to run, Floyd jumped on top of Rodgers. Putting all of the weight on his left heel, as Rodgers was leaning forward.
This ultimately caused a complete tear in the left achilles. It is known that the tendon is not meant to carry the weight of a football linebacker and quarterback.
Rodgers’ first season with the Jets lasted an entire 75 seconds. He came out of the game, went into the injury tent, and was later ruled out. On Tuesday, MRIs confirmed that his achilles had been torn.
This left many questions. The big one of all
“Will Rodgers ever play again?”
“Was it the field’s fault?”
“Should the NFL switch to grass fields?”
That is unrelated to the New York Jets' current concern. The Jets main concern is finding a solution for their quarterback situation; they don’t have too many options as it is.
As of now, the Jets can either go out and sign a free agent quarterback, with some of their options being Cam Newton, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, or they can stick with Zach Wilson. Wilson, the former #2 overall pick a couple of years ago, has not been good for the Jets. He has more interceptions than touchdowns in his career and has never had more than 7 wins in a season. So that leaves the big question: What should the Jets do?
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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