Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers miraculously returned to practice Wednesday as the team opened his 21-day practice window. That simply means the Jets now have a timetable to activate Rodgers to the 53-man roster or else Rodgers will officially be done for the season, something the Jets thought would happen anyway when he suffered a torn Achilles on September 11. The Jets have until December 20 to activate Rodgers.
That he is even on the practice field just 79 days following the injury — 77 since his surgery on September 13 — is an incredible story in and of itself. The question now is: Will Aaron Rodgers play in a game again this season? That remains to be seen and probably very unlikely, but the option is at least on the table.
Given the window and the Jets saying they’ll use the entire window, the earliest Rodgers might be able to play again is December 24 against the Washington Commanders. Rodgers has said the Jets have to be in the playoff hunt for him to consider a return to game action — New York has a 1% chance of making the postseason. Unless the Jets make a run in the next three weeks — vs. Atlanta, vs. Houston, at Miami — their playoff hopes will be all but gone by that Week 16 game and Rodgers would likely decide not to play at all.
However, the Jets do have another option in their pocket. They could choose to activate Rodgers just to allow him to continue practicing through the rest of the season. It’s similar to what they are doing now with offensive tackle Duane Brown. The Jets activated Brown from injured reserve last week, but it was Carter Warren who started again at left tackle as the Jets are letting Brown continue to rehab from his hip injury.
The key here is that since Brown can practice since he is off injured reserve. Had the Jets not activated Brown, he would have remained on injured reserve for the rest of the season and could not practice. This is where the Jets could decide to activate Rodgers just to allow him to rehab and practice with the team for the rest of the season.
This would give Rodgers six weeks of practice before the end of the season, a small piece of foundation as the team heads into 2024 in what they hope will be their year with a healthy Rodgers behind center.
Of course, on the flip side, activating Rodgers would mean holding a roster spot that could be used elsewhere. The Jets would have to cut a player to make room for Rodgers. It could also give the team four quarterbacks on the active roster, unless they tried, for example, waiving Trevor Siemian and then stashing him back on the practice squad for the final few weeks of the season.
It’s an interesting dynamic to the end of this Jets season, one that ultimately was lost just minutes after it started. The team couldn’t keep the ship afloat, sinking to a 4-7 record with four straight losses. New York sits 15th in the AFC standings, ahead of only the 2-9 New England Patriots — the same Patriots team that beat New York in Week 3.
At least there is a positive light here. Rodgers is back at practice and work for the rest of 2023 and into 2024 now begins.