National Football League

Jets fear Aaron Rodgers tore Achilles in Week 1 win over Bills: 'It's not good'

Updated Sep. 12, 2023 1:22 a.m. ET

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Henry McKenna

AFC East Reporter

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered an ankle injury during the team's opening drive in Week 1 — just four snaps into his first season with the team. 

He was carted off the field and examined, ultimately being ruled out for the game after X-rays. After the game, Jets head coach Robert Saleh said the franchise feared Rodgers had torn an Achilles tendon. The team will conduct an MRI Tuesday. 

"Prayers tonight, but it's not good," Saleh said.

Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Leonard Floyd sacked Rodgers on the Jets' fourth snap. Floyd twisted Rodgers around in the course of completing the play and the QB tangled his legs. Rodgers tossed the ball at a Bills player in frustration and hobbled off the field with the help of trainers on either side of him. After a few minutes in the blue medical tent, he rode a cart to the tunnel, where he limped back to the team's locker room for X-rays.

The Jets ruled him as questionable following the injury. And while MetLife had erupted at multiple points to start the game — including the Jets defense forcing a punt on the Bills' opening drive — they went silent when Zach Wilson took the field in Rodgers' absence. Soon after, the Wi-Fi slowed to a stop at MetLife, likely due to fans scrolling and updating their phones to see the latest on Rodgers.

The 39-year-old quarterback joined the team this offseason in a trade with the Green Bay Packers, who sent Rodgers, their 2023 first-round pick (No. 15) and a 2023 fifth-round pick (No. 170) to the Jets for a 2023 first-round pick (No. 13), a 2023 second-round pick (No. 42), a 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 207) and a conditional 2024 second-round pick.

The team acquired Rodgers after Wilson, the 2021 No. 2 overall pick, flopped in his second NFL season. He finished the year completing 54.5% of his passes for 1,688 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Jets benched him at multiple points in the season, eventually demoting him to QB3.

Will Zach Wilson be able to step up for Jets without Aaron Rodgers?

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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Henry McKenna