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Aaron Rodgers is trying to bring an early Christmas miracle to the Jets.
Rodgers said that his return to practice this week from a torn Achilles happened one week earlier than initially expected, which has opened the door to an adjustment in his target date of playing in a game Dec. 24 against the Commanders. Could he play Dec. 17 against the Dolphins? Or even Dec. 10 against the Texans?
“Anything is possible,” Rodgers told local media Thursday at the team facility.
Put an asterisk next to “anything,” however.
The Tim Boyle-quarterbacked Jets (4-7) need to be in the playoff hunt for Rodgers — who was injured four plays into the Sept. 11 season opener — to attempt what would be the fastest comeback ever from a torn Achilles by an NFL player. Why not play even if the Jets are eliminated, just to make history?
“I don’t think that would make a ton of sense,” Rodgers said. “A comeback this year before the four-month mark [Jan. 11] would mean I’m not 100 percent healthy. So it would be a risk for myself to even sign off on. If we are out of it, I would be surprised if [the Jets and doctors] would OK that comeback.”
Rodgers practiced Wednesday — including seven-on-seven drills, he said — but not Thursday, which was a scheduled part of his recovery the same as six or seven days per week at a California-based rehab facility and a strict diet were in the early going.
He plans to “push it” four straight days next week, including back-to-back practices, to see how his leg responds.
“I’m competing against conventional rehab protocol,” Rodgers said. “Until someone breaks that protocol and shows you can do it a different way, the impossible stays the impossible.”
The Jets have 19 days left to activate Rodgers or shut him down for the season.
“It feels great to be on the practice field, but I’m not anywhere near ready to play,” Rodgers said. “But things have accelerated consistently since I was able to jog on the AlterG [anti-gravity treadmill eight weeks after surgery], so things have gone pretty quick in the last few weeks.”
Rodgers, whose 40th birthday is Saturday, does not see a return as jeopardizing his future for short-term gain.
Even if he re-injures his Achilles, he plans to put off retirement and be ready in plenty of time for the 2024 season opener.
“My thing is, what’s the worst that can happen? Something unfortunate again,” Rodgers said. “Then you just slow the rehab down. By my own timetable, if you take the rehab slower and a little more deliberate, five months, six months max is probably the length to get back to 100 percent. In my opinion, there’s not a downside to coming back and re-injuring it.”
Playing through injury limitations is nothing new to Rodgers, who tore his calf in the 2014 regular-season finale and started two playoff games after a bye week.
He played most of the 2018 season, including meaningless games at the end of a lost season, through a knee sprain by relying on the shotgun formation.
This comeback is “more intense” because surgery was involved, and Rodgers wants to line up under center.
“I have to be able to do some movement in the pocket, for sure,” Rodgers said. “Obviously I can throw, I can drop back, I can do some things in a small circle, but I don’t think I can protect myself as well as I’d like to at this point. I have to do a little more in practice, take live team reps.”
So, the pressure is on the Jets on Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak, beat the Falcons (5-6), improve their 1 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN analytics, and give Rodgers incentive to keep defying medical precedence.
“I’m proud of the work I’ve put in, but it would be disappointing if we were alive and I wasn’t able to come back,” Rodgers said. “Every great leader wants to inspire their guys. True motivation comes from within.
“Hopefully we can find it inside of us the next few weeks and keep this thing alive.”
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