Aaron Rodgers’ renaissance as a New York Jet got off to just about as poor a start as it could have Monday night. He started the primetime showdown with the Buffalo Bills; he will not finish it.
Rodgers, donning green and white for the first time in the regular season, took the field and handed off to Breece Hall for a gain of 26 yards on his first snap. He was pressured on the ensuing first down and had to throw the ball away. The Buffalo Bills’ pass rush got to him again on second down, but a defensive hold wiped that slate clean.
Then, on snap number four, things got worse. Leonard Floyd made it three-for-three on Bills’ pressures, this time wrapping up the four-time MVP and dragging him to the turf. Rodgers got up briefly, then slunk back down to the field. Moments later, he walked to the sideline aided by the Jets’ training staff.
That led Zach Wilson, the former No. 2 overall pick whose play was so bad it compelled New York to trade a first round selection to the Green Bay Packers for a player who had no intention of ever playing for them again, to make his first appearance of the season. He completed a pair of short passes for 13 yards — not enough to make up the distance lost by Rodgers’ potentially season-changing sack.
It’s unclear how serious the lower leg injury Rodgers suffered is, but it necessitated a cart ride to the locker room for further evaluation. That’s never a good sign.
Aaron Rodgers is being carted to the locker room. Looks like an injury on his right leg.
The Jets can't have nice things. Yeesh.
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) September 12, 2023
Even if he can play through the pain, it could be a significant blow to the Jets’ passing game. Rodgers’ mobility has waned as he’s edged closer to 40 years old; his 13 scrambles in 2022 were a career low. He’d already been stuck running for his life on his first three dropbacks with his new team. Any further blow to his running game could seriously damage his impact as a passer.
The good news is New York has a backup with 22 career starts to his name waiting in the wings. The bad news is it’s Wilson, who is 8-14 in those starts with a 15:18 touchdown:interception ratio. This isn’t what New York had in mind when it paid a ransom to upgrade its quarterback position.
Rodgers was originally ruled questionable to return. While x-rays came back negative, the Jets officially declared him out for the rest of the game midway through the second quarter. No word yet on how long this lower leg issue could keep him off the field.