Aaron Rodgers reveals 'goal' for rest of 2023 season after injury
Injured Aaron Rodgers #8 of the New York Jets looks on prior to the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at MetLife Stadium on October 01, 2023 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Aaron Rodgers suffered an Achilles injury on the first drive of his start with the New York Jets in September, and it looked like he was going to be sidelined for the season.
NBC’s Melissa Stark provided some hope for the Jets faithful before the team’s 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.
"He told me he was medically cleared to fly and traveled in from Los Angeles last night," Stark said on the broadcast. "He surprised the team at their hotel. Only Robert Saleh knew he was coming. Rodgers told me he had to be here. He wanted to tell the team to relax – to ignore the noise – saying we’re only three games. He plans to fly back to California this week to get his stitches removed and aggressively continue rehabbing over five hours a day.
"His plan is to rejoin the team permanently after their Week 7 bye. And he told me his goal is to play again this season."
Rodgers was at MetLife Stadium for the first time since the injury.
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The Jets quarterback said on "The Pat McAfee Show" last month he did not want to put out a timeline on his recovery and was focused on his health.
"I don’t want to get caught in the timeline," Rodgers said. "I just want to get healthy, honestly — mentally and physically, honestly. But I’m going to do everything I can rehab-wise to put myself in a position to be ready to play football again at some point. That’s the goal. I mean, obviously, when this happened, there’s a lot of thoughts about, like, is that it? Cash it in, you’re done?
"I just don’t feel like I am. So, I’m going to put myself in a position to be able to play again and then see when that is."
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New York fell to 1-3 with the loss to Kansas City.