In his weekly Tuesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” New York Jets (4-5) quarterback Aaron Rodgers responded to the conspiracy theory floating around that he didn’t actually suffer a torn Achilles just four plays into the 2023 season.
Billy Gil of “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” originally started the discussion last week, using the 39-year-old’s rapid recovery from the injury as evidence. The four-time NFL MVP was careful in his response, saying ESPN may cut the feed if he went into how he really feels about those questioning the legitimacy of his injury.
“I have some very interesting thoughts that ESPN would probably try and cut off the broadcast if I started really getting into how I feel about that stuff,” Rodgers told McAfee, via Awful Announcing.
Rodgers added: “The same people entertaining the possibility of conspiracy about my Achilles could not possibly fathom a world in which anything related to this beautiful, experimental gene therapy could have any issues with that. Fascinating. Fascinating. So I just went into it, they probably just cut the feed. I don’t give a sh*t, I don’t give a sh*t.”
Aaron Rodgers clarifies timetable for comeback
Ever since he suffered the injury in Week 1, Rodgers has been clear he plans to return at some point this season. Rodgers elaborated on his conversation with Melissa Stark of NBC about a possible mid-December return.
“As far as what I talked to Melissa Stark about, I never said anything definitive,” Rodgers said. “She talked about having a conversation with my amazing doctor. She talked to my doctor about if it would be insane to try and come back in, you know, three months. And he responded about the fact that when you bring together a specific type of surgery with a specific patient with this specific amount of stubbornness and desire to get back on the field and obviously playing quarterback, then there’s a possibility.
“But nothing’s changed as far as my timeline. It’s we got to be in the mix, and I gotta be healthy and I definitely still want to come back.”
When it comes to a possible return, the Jets will likely need to be in contention for it to happen. The past two weeks, however, have been a setback. New York has dropped back-to-back games to the Los Angeles Chargers (4-5) and Las Vegas Raiders (5-5). The Jets sit third in the AFC East and 13th in the conference.
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