Aaron Rodgers is building some hype among New York Jets fans, with the belief that he might be back before the end of the season growing after the quarterback was seen throwing footballs and walking without crutches before his team beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
The veteran QB has said it is his intention to play again this season, despite having surgery on a ruptured Achilles tendon just last month. Speaking on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Tuesday, he credited his own willpower, as well as a new innovative procedure that he asked his doctors to push the protocols on for his insane progress.
“We’re going to save a spot for him,’’ Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters on Tuesday, having branded Rodgers a “freakazoid” after watching him toss footballs two days prior.
It would be nothing short of miraculous if the QB were to play football again this season. But the New York Post has spoken to a few doctors who cast doubt on the prospect, pointing out the risks.
While the medical professionals did not discourage Rodgers from returning in 2023, they all reckon the risk of coming back so soon outweighs the reward.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
“I’m not aware of anything that would get an athlete back in 14 weeks to play professional sports,’’ professor of orthopedic surgery and chief of the foot and ankle division at NYU Langone, Dr. John Kennedy was quoted as saying. “That would be an exceptional recovery. Professional athletes are exceptional human beings who do things the rest of us can’t do, and maybe he will. And if he does then we’re all wrong and it’ll be fantastic for the Jets and for Aaron.
“But if it all goes horribly wrong, that would be the risk that most of us [doctors] would say he would take if he came back in that kind of accelerated time, 14 weeks. That’s a very, very short time.’’
Dr, Spencer Stein, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone’s Division of Sports agreed that the new procedure could speed up recovery but would not cause the tendon to heal any faster.
“Even though [the speed bridge] is a newer technique and may enhance the recovery, there’s still that time it takes for the tendon to heal, and I would think you’d have to cautious for sending him back [to play] too early, because you don’t want to re-tear,’’ he said.
Another expert, Peter De Luca, noted that the procedure “speeds up the rehab, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it speeds up the return to play.’’
De Luca, the chief of sports medicine at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey, is of the view that Rodgers will not return if the Jets are not within a shot of making the playoffs.
In any case, it’s going be quite intriguing to see how Rodgers fares, having already made unbelievable strides to this point.
