Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was back to the easy part of football. He could roll out and throw, with his performance drawing raves from his teammates.
Granted, it was the opening few days of OTAs. He was wearing a bright red jersey and no defender was allowed to get anywhere near him. But being back on the field with no physical restrictions was freeing for the Jets quarterback. After all, Rodgers hasn’t been healthy while on the football field in eight months, since the 2023 season opener.
You can divide the 40-year-old quarterback’s time with the Jets as pre- and post-Achilles tear. Afterwards, reporters asked Rodgers questions in regards to how he felt. Normally, those questions would be mundane. But the status of Rodgers left Achilles will be a hot topic of discussion until he gets through actual games against an edge rusher who would like to take off his head.
“I feel really good,” Rodgers said after the Jets finished practice. “It’s just about the mental part. These practices have been nice the last couple of days. Feel(ing) what it’s like to be out there, to be moving around. to not be moving around, to not be thinking about it. And to see how I respond the next day. It’s the last part.
He added “rhe strength is good. Movement is good, just the confidence to do everything.”
The Jets social media team cranked out clips of Rodgers completing all sorts of passes. He had no problems with a seven-step drop, setting his feet, planting, hopping an extra beat, then throwing an intermediate route to Garrett Wilson. The Jets social media staff requested “more of this pls.”
Fingers crossed for Rodgers, there will be so much more through OTAs, mini camp, training camp, exhibition season, then September’s season kickoff. See, there’s not much longer to wait for football season.
As every NFL fan knows, Rodgers ruptured his Achilles on the fourth offensive snap of the Jets season opener against the Bills at Met Life Stadium. His departure from the Packers was one of the most buzzed about stories of offseason 2023. Then he recaptured fans’ attention when he talked of coming back at the end of 2023.
Rodgers didn’t see the main field again after his injury. But he did get back to the practice field, where he got to low-key run the scout team. A reporter asked him if those workouts back in December and January helped him now.
The Jets QB didn’t think so.
“It’s all new,” he said. “It’s different people (and) it’s different strength. Back then I couldn’t run. I couldn’t move fast. But now I feel like I can do anything. I can run at top speed. In those moments, the reaction is coming naturally.”
The real test will be the mornings after the practices and how the Achilles responds. The Jets are hoping Rodgers feels well in those moments, too.
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