As Aaron Rodgers begins his walk towards his once-Impossible Dream, the Jets walk with him. As they watch Aaron Rodgers’ valiant attempt at a month shy of 40 to walk back into their 2023 huddle against all medical odds, they walk with him.
As they watch and wait and marvel while they do at the future first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback desperately wanting if not needing a chance to chase his second Super Bowl championship with an Achilles torn less than two months ago, the Jets feel themselves emboldened and inspired to believe that if Aaron Rodgers can be a Miracle Man, perhaps together they can be Miracle Men.
“It makes everybody just feel like anything is possible,” Sauce Gardner told The Post. “It makes everybody grind and motivates us to be able to have a guy like that on the team. I’m pretty sure it motivates the other guys who are injured, because they probably think because he’s able to do that with the kind of injury that he had, they can do it as well.”
Rodgers’ indomitable will alone cannot heal that Achilles. But try telling that to him. Or to his teammates.
“It’s Kobe-esque,” Quinton Jefferson told The Post. “I know Kobe [Bryant] had the one year he tore his Achilles, everybody counted him out and he put that work and he came back, and that seems like he’s on the same trajectory, man. I just tip my hat off to him and see the work he’s putting in and just how inspirational and energizing that is.”
Aaron Rodgers keeps aiming for a 2023 return despite his torn Achilles.Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Every Jet, player and coach, reaches for the carrot of hope that Rodgers has been holding out with each passing day and each passing step.
“He doesn’t owe anyone anything,” Garrett Wilson told The Post. “It’s all about him wanting to prove to the world that you can’t put a time limit on anyone, you can’t tell anyone what they can do, and he has all our belief in this facility. Whenever he’s ready to come back, we’ll be ready to support him, whether it’s this season or a year from now, I don’t want anyone to rush him, I don’t want him to feel rushed.
“Special person, special talent, and the way things been playing out, he’s got some special DNA in there healing his body.”
Sauce Gardner said Aaron Rodgers’ attempted return makes the Jets “feel like anything is possible.”Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Wilson never got the chance to catch a regular-season pass from Rodgers. LT Duane Brown (shoulder), who hopes to return Monday night against the Chargers, got to block only four plays for Rodgers on opening night.
“Every time I see him, he’s improving a little bit more,” Brown said. “Obviously something we’ve never seen before. But I think he has the ultimate confidence as a competitor, and he’s made his mind up. It’s really inspiring. It’s kinda hard to put into words. I’m just looking forward to seeing his progress going forward. It’s a devastating injury, and to see him try to do something that hasn’t been done, especially a guy turning 40 soon, it’s incredible.”
When they see him throwing pregame passes, when they hear him push to speak this comeback into existence, it is all further confirmation to them that Aaron Rodgers loves the game again the way he used to before his retirement thoughts and loves being a Jet.
Garrett Wilson said Aaron Rodgers doesn’t “owe anyone anything” but rather has something to prove.Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
“It’s very motivational, and I think it’s impacting our team positively,” D.J. Reed told The Post. “Every time he’s around us, I just feel like good stuff has been happening. I’m definitely proud of him the way he’s attacking his rehab — the mindset that A.R. has, he definitely wants to be back early.”
And dare anyone to doubt that he can be. “I think that’s driving him,” Reed said. “Not only that, obviously, he’s driven internally as well, but people and the naysayers saying that he won’t play this year, I think that’s definitely pushing him to come back faster.”
None of it is intended as a reflection on Zach Wilson. But he was deigned Rodgers’ backup. Rodgers was the missing piece for Woody Johnson, for Joe Douglas, for Robert Saleh.
“It’s really cool and it’s really motivational in the sense that guys aren’t supposed to be able to come back that quick from injuries, and his determination and his manifestation into his own self, his own process is really cool to see,” Bryce Huff told The Post. “He is not thinking about the limits that other doctors have put on him and analysts and stuff like that, he’s just focused on what he has going on in his process.”
It is the essence of the man. “It’s who he is,” John Franklin-Myers said. “You really gotta be 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 with it, and some things can’t be taught, rehearsed or trained.”
As much as they dream about No. 8 leading a would-be playoff charge, they make it clear that no risk is worth any reward.
Reed: “As long as he’s fully healthy, and he’s confident to go out there and play, that would definitely be cool and that would definitely encourage our team. But definitely want him to come back and be healthy, though, and not come back rushing it and risk getting hurt again.”
Sauce: “I just want to make sure he’s good as a person. I know he’s gonna compete, I know he’s gonna make sure if he do come back, he’s that guy that we all know he is. I’ve never seen somebody progress as fast as he is. I just want to make sure he’s good mentally going through all this stuff, just letting him know he’s not alone through all of this.”
He is not on the field with them on game day. But he knows that he is not alone.
Aaron Rodgers has remained a fixture on the Jets’ sideline during most of their home games.Robert Sabo for the NY Post
