Aaron Rodgers is hoping to take flight sooner than later for the Jets.
The future Hall of Famer said during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he’d like to be back on the practice field in two weeks, roughly three months after undergoing surgery on his left Achilles.
While Rodgers didn’t necessarily confirm the Dec. 2 date that Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer put out on Sunday, he did acknowledge that he’s said that he’d “love to be trending towards practicing by my birthday.”
Rodgers turns 40 on Dec. 2.
“Maybe that in the game of telephone got back that I want to [practice on Dec. 2], but I don’t think there’s any reason opening a designate to return off of IR on a Saturday,” Rodgers said. “Unless you’re going to activate me on a Sunday, so I don’t think necessarily that’s the way things are going as far as specific dates.”
That could mark Wednesday, Dec. 6, as a possible return date, according to ESPN, and give Rodgers three weeks to get back into shape for the Jets’ Week 16 matchup with the Washington Commanders.
The Jets’ quarterback has gone through a rapid recovery from the season-opening Achilles injury he suffered on just the fourth offensive play of the game.
At the time, some had speculated the injury could be it for Rodgers’ storied career, and admittedly, the thought had crossed his mind as well in the immediate aftermath.
“I think there was a thought after the injury, that was like, ‘This is it, I’m done. I can’t go through this rehab, you know, I’m too old for this s–t,’ ” Rodgers admitted on Tuesday. “I did a lot of soul searching and praying that night and I woke up in the morning and felt like, ‘Nah I’m coming back. I’m going to do this again. I’m going to climb the mountain one more time.’”
With the Jets’ playoff chances growing bleaker after dropping three straight, Rodgers said his rebab process wasn’t slowing down.
The Week 1 loss of Rodgers was a massive blow to the Jets’ plans this season.
The arrival of the Super Bowl MVP and four-time NFL MVP had catapulted the Jets into the contender conversation going into this season and had given fans hope that it could finally be a turning point for the beleaguered franchise.
However, that came crashing down rather quickly as it forced Jets head coach Robert Saleh to have to turn back to Zach Wilson and the team is sitting at 4-6 going into Friday’s game against Miami.
Wilson’s go at being the Jets’ starter this season has been disastrous and finally led to Saleh announcing that he will be benched in favor of backup Tim Boyle this week.
Rodgers said he felt “some personal guilt” surrounding Wilson’s situation. It was expected he’d mentor the third-year quarterback this season.
“I feel for Zach, I love Zach. He’s such a great kid,” Rodgers said. “I do think he still has a bright future in the league. This has been a tough go for all of us. A lot of times in these situations, there are certain guys [they] gotta scapegoat and I think there is enough blame to go around from a number of different positions.”
He added: “I have some personal guilt around the whole thing. I mean I’m pissed I wasn’t able to play and frustrated that if I was out there and I feel like I’d be playing well, there would be different narratives around our team.
“And Zach would have the opportunity to grow and learn and see what it looks like without the pressure on [him].”
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