The hype around Aaron Rodgers potentially returning this season from a torn Achilles went into overdrive Sunday night, when the Jets quarterback told NBC’s Melissa Stark that he’s targeting a return in mid-December following the Sept. 11 injury.
Bill Simmons is sick of it all.
On his latest Ringer podcast, after Stark’s reporting on “Sunday Night Football” during the Jets’ loss to the Raiders, Simmons sounded exasperated by the talk of Rodgers coming back from an injury that is typically season-ending.
“Can we stop with the Rodgers comeback?” Simmons said. “Do we have to do this as a news story? And they have to show him on the sidelines and the sideline reporter with the, ‘I talked to Aaron Rodgers and he said it’s going really well and he can do this and he can do that.’ Aaron Rodgers is not playing football this year. Why are we doing this? He’s intentionally, especially as the [Travis] Kelce-Taylor Swift relationship goes bonkers, it’s like, ‘Ah, I gotta leak that my Achilles, I might be back in mid-December. There’s no way.”
Since Rodgers tore his left Achilles four plays into his first game with the Jets amid Super Bowl expectations, the 39-year-old has been steadfast in his belief that he can get back on the field during the 2023 NFL season.
A three-month comeback from such an injury is unprecedented.
“There’s 10 times a game when the quarterback has to quickly pivot and scramble out,” Simmons went on. “His leg’s not gonna be ready for that. Just stop.”
After the Jets’ “Monday Night Football” loss to the Chargers last week, video showed Rodgers telling Los Angeles’ Derwin James “give me a few weeks” in regards to when he’ll return.
Rodgers clarified his remarks on last Tuesday’s episode of “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“It’d be nice to be able to get back in a couple weeks,” Rodgers said. “That’s probably not anywhere near a realistic timeline. … It’s more of a phrase that didn’t have a specific timetable.”
Whether the Jets (4-5) will still be in playoff contention in mid-December remains to be seen after they let one slip away Sunday night in a 16-12 loss in Las Vegas, with Rodgers wearing a headset on the sideline.
The Jets have another road game against the Bills on Sunday before hosting the Dolphins on Black Friday, the Falcons on Dec. 3 and the Texans on Dec. 10.
Their final four games are at the Dolphins, home against the Commanders, at the Browns and at the Patriots.