Rodgers’s Jets Season Ends Early With Torn Achilles’ Tendon

Aaron Rodgers received the news on Tuesday that was extensively feared since he departed the Jets’ Monday night time recreation towards the Buffalo Bills: He had torn his left Achilles’ tendon and can miss the season, the league mentioned in a social media submit.

After a protracted and glittering profession because the Green Bay Packers quarterback, Rodgers had come to the Jets at age 39 within the hopes of pushing the group to a Super Bowl, which the franchise had not gained for the reason that days of Joe Namath. Already stocked with an elite protection and younger stars at key positions, Rodgers’s expertise and management have been regarded as the ultimate puzzle piece to a group that might contend for a championship.

But the star quarterback was sacked simply three and a half minutes into his first recreation at MetLife Stadium on Tuesday. Though he stood for a second after being felled by Bills defensive finish Leonard Floyd, he quickly sat down on the turf. He was helped to the sideline then carted off to the locker room and TV cameras confirmed Rodgers carrying a protecting boot.

On Tuesday, the league mentioned in a submit on X, previously referred to 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.”

After confirming that Rodgers would wish surgical procedure to restore the harm, Coach Robert Saleh spent a lot of a news convention Tuesday to reiterate his confidence within the group and in quarterback Zach Wilson, 24.

“I don’t know why people are trying to put an obituary on our team name,” Saleh mentioned. He added: “We have all the faith in the world in Zach and the best part about Zach is that we all do believe that he’s leap years ahead of where he was a year ago.”

For now, the Jets flip to Wilson, the backup quarterback who helped the group rally to a 22-16 win in Monday’s recreation towards the Bills. Rodgers and Wilson are associates, and with the veteran’s arrival, Wilson had embraced his function as Rodgers’s understudy to enhance downside areas in his mechanics and approach. But Saleh declined to supply specifics on how the offensive technique would change below Wilson, saying it might range relying on the sport plan.

Saleh additionally mentioned the group would elevate Tim Boyle from the follow group and can look to signal a free agent to the quarterback room.

The Jets have had a star-crossed historical past since Namath led them to an upset Super Bowl victory within the 1968 season. Since then, the group has struggled to seek out one other franchise quarterback able to main it again to a title recreation, utilizing first-round draft picks on Richard Todd in 1976, Ken O’Brien in 1983, Chad Pennington in 2000, Mark Sanchez in 2009, Sam Darnold in 2018, and Zach Wilson in 2021.

The Jets had additionally beforehand tried luring an M.V.P. quarterback from the Packers, buying and selling for Brett Favre in 2007. Those acquisitions every fell wanting reworking the Jets offense into title contenders.

There was hope Rodgers may change that lengthy historical past of inefficacy when was acquired in an April commerce in change for draft picks. His lengthy profession has put him within the prime 10 of many passing classes, he has gained 4 Most Valuable Player Awards, and within the 2010 season he took the Packers to their solely Super Bowl victory of this century.

Rodgers’s arrival had stoked the hopes of Jets followers and his teammates. “Bringing a guy like him into the building just excites everyone in general because the résumé he has, the character he is, the guy that he is, that brings a spark to everybody,” mentioned defensive deal with Quinnen Williams, at coaching camp in July.

The match appeared good: Rodgers threw himself into the lifetime of the town, turning up on the Tony Awards, Knicks and Rangers video games, the U.S. Open, and a Taylor Swift live performance at MetLife.

In Rodgers’s absence, expectations for the Jets at the moment are, as in so many different years, severely diminished.

Santul Nerkar contributed reporting.