National Football League

Aaron Rodgers still focused on playing again this season, perhaps before Dec. 24

Published Nov. 30, 2023 6:23 p.m. ET

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Aaron Rodgers fully intends to play again this season for the New York Jets and he hasn't ruled out being back on the field for a game in a few weeks.

The quarterback has been making a remarkably quick recovery since tearing his left Achilles tendon four snaps into his debut with the Jets in Week 1.

Rodgers, speaking to local reporters Thursday, returned to practice Wednesday — the three-month anniversary of his surgery — but said he's not yet close to being able to play. He acknowledged he won't be 100 percent healthy if he returns less than four months after surgery and added that it "wouldn't make sense" to rush his return if the Jets (4-7) are out of the playoff hunt.

But he also left open the door for him to be back under center before his initial goal of Dec. 24 against Washington, saying he plans to ramp up his practice activities next week.

"I think anything's possible," Rodgers said.

The four-time NFL MVP said he needs to make sure he can make it through consecutive practices and acknowledged the risks of playing and the potential of reinjuring the Achilles tendon. He added in that "worst-case scenario," he would then do a slower rehabilitation than the current program that's geared toward him getting on the field again this season.

"So in my opinion, there's not like a downside to coming back and, you know, reinjuring it," Rodgers said.

Rodgers, who turns 40 on Saturday, is on track to potentially have the quickest known comeback from a torn Achilles tendon among professional athletes.

Aaron Rodgers returns to Jets practice. Is a Christmas Eve return possible?

"I don't feel like I'm competing in science when it comes to this rehab," Rodgers said. "I'm competing against conventional rehab protocol. But until someone breaks that protocol and shows you can do it a different way, you know, the impossible stays the impossible."

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Aaron Rodgers

National Football League

New York Jets