The New York Jets have until Wednesday to decide whether or not Aaron Rodgers’ season is officially over or not.
The 40-year-old veteran quarterback, who has seemingly defied modern medicine after undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles in September, is remarkably close to a return to action — so much so that he said he would play if the Jets were still in contention around Christmas Eve.
As things go for the Jets, though, they are not, after dropping to 5-9 with a 30-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday that officially eliminated them from playoff contention. That means one last push to return seems unnecessary. Instead, Rodgers could have an entire offseason to get to 100% and hit the ground running in 2024.
The book is still out on that decision, however, at least according to head coach Robert Saleh.
“Aaron wants to play, let’s not confuse that one,” Saleh said. “That’s why he’s been working so hard to get back, and his willingness to play, even if he’s not at 100%, is at the forefront of his mind. He wants to go. But… until he’s actually cleared, I’m not going to talk about it with anybody.”
Rodgers has not been officially cleared by doctors yet and according to Saleh, they still have to meet to see “if there’s actual clearance on their part… there’s a lot of steps there.”
“There has to be a discussion with Aaron in terms of what the next step would be and the comfort level of everybody on board,” he continued. “So it’s not something that’s made in a vacuum, but all the right conversations would be had… I’m sure you could make arguments either way on both sides of the coin, but like I said, until that conversation is actually real, it’s not a conversation I’m thinking about.”
With a Week 16 matchup with the Washington Commanders looming on Christmas Eve, the Jets currently don’t know who their quarterback will be regardless of the Rodgers decision. Zach Wilson suffered a concussion against the Dolphins, which means Trevor Siemian would get the start.
