Aaron Rodgers shows noticeable improvement just two months after Achilles tear

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers showed off some very noticeable improvement on Sunday as he tossed footballs on the field during his team’s pre-game warmup. The Jets are taking on the New York Giants without Rodgers, but by the look of him, the veteran will be back from his Achilles injury in record time.

The almost-40-year-old threw around a ball two weeks ago but the mobility he had in Week 8 was significantly better. Rodgers jauntily went through some footwork while tossing the football with his teammates.

.@AaronRodgers12 on an incredible pace to recovery. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/nERQtVLp6i

— NFL (@NFL) October 29, 2023

On the ManningCast last week, Rodgers told the Manning brothers that his goal is definitely still to return at some point this season.

“I’ve had a couple injuries over the years, and I think for me — you always have to set a goal,” Rodgers said. “Otherwise you go kind of crazy. And so the goal is to definitely come back. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. I gotta get to a point where I can protect myself and then do what I do.

Rodgers getting back to ‘normal’ with team

On The Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers discussed how important it was for him to be able to feel “normal” again after weeks of abnormalities with his injury.

“The next goal was to be able to throw on the field the 15th,” Rodgers said. “It’s really just for me to be able to feel more normal. Just to be back around the guys was incredible.

“To be on the field without crutches, to be able to be on the sidelines, to be on the headset, it made me feel like I wasn’t so separated from the team. Really thankful for that. Obviously just about anything I do or say there’s some sort of reaction. That’s kind of where I’m at right now, and I appreciate it. But that was a special moment for me to be able to feel a little bit more normal.”

Rodgers said he has been very intentional with his rehab after his undergoing surgery from the knife of Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

He said to McAfee and his crew that he underwent a more innovative surgery to repair his Achilles injury, and asked ElAttrache if he could push the injury as much as possible.

“I asked him if we could push it,” Rodgers said. “If we could push it beyond the normal protocols. Cam Akers had the same surgery. He was able to come back in about five months. Me and JK both had the surgery within a couple of days of each other. It’ll be interesting to see what both of our prognosis is and then our timetable. But I just wanted to do things quicker. Smart but quicker and like I’ve said, the most important thing is you just don’t want to stress the Achilles.”