Aaron Rodgers’ health, Jets’ playoff standing will determine if he plays again

Jets fans, don’t circle a date just yet for an Aaron Rodgers return this season. Yes, the team is painful to watch on offense, but the quarterback still isn’t ready to even get back on the field in practice to really test his surgically patched Achilles.

Rodgers said this Tuesday during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. The veteran QB tore his Achilles on the fourth snap of the season, so his much anticipated Jets premiere never really happened. Now, with Rodgers walking with no limp and showing off his arm during warmups, rumors are running rampant he may return by Christmas.

Rodgers says to tap those brakes, at least for now. It depends on if he can protect himself from additional injury, once he’s on the field. Plus, the Jets games need to be meaningful.

“First, am I healthy? And then are we alive? Are we in it? Are we playing good enough to make a run?” Rodgers told McAfee. “Can I step in and protect myself and play at a level that I feel like I’m capable of playing? But the first part is, is the health. So can I protect myself? Can I move around the way I want to move around?

“There’s a natural progression here to the rehab,” Rodgers said. “And, you know, that’s going to involve actually getting back onto the field to start to do some things that are more football related. But again, … we’re not, we’re not where I can make a decision on playing because I’m just, health wise … I’m improving steadily. But I’m not in a not in a position to play at this point.”

Aaron Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show that any potential return this season will depend on both his health and the Jets’ playoff possibilities. pic.twitter.com/jkMRYgEIfP

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 28, 2023

Without Aaron Rodgers, the Jets offense is a mess. Coach Robert Saleh leaned on Zach Wilson to start after Rodgers went down in the first game against the Bills. The Jets beat Buffalo to open the season. They’ve won three games since then and are two games out of securing a spot in the playoffs with six to play. Meanwhile, Saleh benched Smith in favor of Tim Boyle for the Jets’ Black Friday game against the Dolphins. It didn’t matter.

After spending much of the season rehabbing at his home in California, Rodgers has returned full-time to the Jets campus in Florham Park, N.J.

“Once I’m healthy, and then that’s ‘are we alive, are we in it? Can I help the team and not hurt the team by being back out there? Can I protect myself, can I move around and do all the things I want to do?’ ” Rodgers said. “If the answer is yes, then we move in that direction. If the answer’s no then I’ve got to listen to my body. Obviously I’d still need to be cleared by everybody at that point. But it’s health first and then kind of kind of … are we alive, (in the) playoffs, second.”

Keep in mind, no player ever has returned from a torn Achilles in the same season in which he injured himself. And second, Rodgers celebrates his 40th birthday on Saturday.