Aaron Rodgers is not coming ba...

Can we be straightforward and cut through the mess as it pertains to the Jets' quarterback situation? There is no circumstance under which Aaron Rodgers coming back to play for the Jets this season makes any sense for their present or future circumstances.

It’s undeniably hard to watch a team with a defense that is championship-ready play offense 3 yards at a time, but unfortunately that’s the reality for the Jets this season. No matter how many times Rodgers says to players on the field that he will be back in a few weeks, or “corrects” himself by saying he’s “a few fortnights” away from returning, creating the illusion that he’s close to playing serves no purpose.

As all football-watchers know, Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon four plays into the Jets’ season opener against the Bills, a game they ended up winning due to stingy defense and an overtime punt return for a TD. That performance, to a degree, kicked off the theme of the Jets' season: a continuous question to the football gods of “what if?” What if Rodgers was able to come back? What if the Jets didn’t have to waste a championship-caliber defense on Zach Wilson? What if this team had just average quarterback play?

It’s a tantalizing alternate reality, but that’s all it is — an alternate reality that has no bearing on the current events that have led Rodgers and the Jets to this point. Rodgers returning at this rate of speed would be unprecedented. It has been just about two months since Rodgers tore his Achilles. This would be a level of recovery that hasn’t been seen at the NFL level before. The closest comparison to this would be current Vikings running back Cam Akers, who first tore his Achilles in July 2021. Akers returned in record time and was able to join the active roster in time for the Rams’ run to a Super Bowl championship.

Can we be straightforward and cut through the mess as it pertains to the Jets' quarterback situation? There is no circumstance under which Aaron Rodgers coming back to play for the Jets this season makes any sense for their present or future circumstances.

It’s undeniably hard to watch a team with a defense that is championship-ready play offense 3 yards at a time, but unfortunately that’s the reality for the Jets this season. No matter how many times Rodgers says to players on the field that he will be back in a few weeks, or “corrects” himself by saying he’s “a few fortnights” away from returning, creating the illusion that he’s close to playing serves no purpose.

As all football-watchers know, Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon four plays into the Jets’ season opener against the Bills, a game they ended up winning due to stingy defense and an overtime punt return for a TD. That performance, to a degree, kicked off the theme of the Jets' season: a continuous question to the football gods of “what if?” What if Rodgers was able to come back? What if the Jets didn’t have to waste a championship-caliber defense on Zach Wilson? What if this team had just average quarterback play?

It’s a tantalizing alternate reality, but that’s all it is — an alternate reality that has no bearing on the current events that have led Rodgers and the Jets to this point. Rodgers returning at this rate of speed would be unprecedented. It has been just about two months since Rodgers tore his Achilles. This would be a level of recovery that hasn’t been seen at the NFL level before. The closest comparison to this would be current Vikings running back Cam Akers, who first tore his Achilles in July 2021. Akers returned in record time and was able to join the active roster in time for the Rams’ run to a Super Bowl championship.

Of course, none of this will matter if the Jets fail to make the playoffs this season with Wilson as their quarterback. The Jets currently have the 11th seed in the AFC and will need to keep pace with the Bills, Texans, Chargers and most of the AFC North. It’s not impossible given the quality of their defense, but it is extremely difficult to win with an offense that’s as bad as the Jets' unit is. This may be much ado about nothing in a few weeks because there’s absolutely no reason for Rodgers to return if the Jets are out of playoff contention.

No one would even be talking about this if Rodgers himself didn’t keep insinuating that he was going to return this season. This doesn’t have to be a modern medicinal miracle that defies everything previously known about Achilles tears in the NFL — just wait until next year and see if Rodgers can return to form once he’s truly at full strength.