Aaron Rodgers started off the game between the NY Jets and the Buffalo Bills on Monday with a riveting moment of unity that lit up the stadium, carrying the flag into the stadium on September 11.
Aaron Rodgers takes the field as a Jet with an American flag on the anniversary of 9/11.
Absolutely electric.
pic.twitter.com/4agUMfjwdl— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 12, 2023
Many fans praised the effort, and marking the anniversary. The moment went viral on X.
But then shortly into the game, on the fourth play, things did not go well for Rodgers. The Buffalo Bills’ Leonard Floyd got around the block of Duane Brown and took down Rodgers.
On The Play Aaron Rodgers Suffered His Season Ending Injury….
Look At The Left Tackle Who Gave Up The Sack…. pic.twitter.com/8mBbjQx8aN
— 𝘑𝘢𝘺𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘥𝘴🥷🏿🗽 (@DimesJayy) September 12, 2023
You can’t really see it in the video above. It didn’t look so bad to begin with, and Rodgers even initially was able to get up.
But you can see how bad it is in this one.
This is probably the clearest video of Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury. You can clearly see it….
(🎥 @ACLrecoveryCLUB)
pic.twitter.com/KFS3hZEQGV https://t.co/hbXnIKBQbA
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 12, 2023
After Rodgers got up, he then sat down on the turf and had to be walked off with the help of staff. He was taken to a medical tent for evaluation.
After the game, which the Jets managed to win anyway, even without Rodgers, the Jets coach Robert Saleh said things didn’t look good and they thought it was an Achilles injury.
Jets coach Robert Saleh said Brown was not to blame for the play. It sounded like it was meant to be a quick pass, but the play got extended.
“Duane can’t look at that and say that was his fault,” Saleh said. “You fight until the end of the down but when it extends the way it does, it’s just a very, very unfortunate play.”
Brown said he still should have made the block and Floyd played it well.
The Jets said that Zach Wilson would be taking over. The Jets had been hoping after making the trade for Rodgers that he was going to help them break their playoff drought. Rodgers had said he thought that they could make the Super Bowl.
“We still have a hell of a group of guys,” Jets coach Robert Saleh told ESPN’s Lisa Salters at the end of the first quarter. “Obviously Aaron is a big part of that, but we still have an unbelievable defense, we’ve got a lot of great guys on offense and we’ll get this thing done.”
Now, it’s been officially confirmed that Rodger’s injury is in fact a torn Achilles, and that after only a few plays, Rodgers is out for the rest of the season.
#Jets QB Aaron Rodgers does, in fact, have a torn Achilles, the MRI has confirmed. He’s out for the season after just four snaps. pic.twitter.com/Yt44roJvTs
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 12, 2023
That’s bad news for the Jets’ hopes. Now the question will be how will it affect Rodgers’ playing hopes for the future.
