Experts discuss if Jets' Aaron Rodgers suffered career-ending injury

It's known for sure that New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers won't play again this season after he suffered a torn Achilles on Monday night. 

Rodgers' future beyond the current campaign is up on the air for multiple reasons. 

"At 40, it’s an uphill battle," Mount Sinai Beth Israel chief of podiatric medicine and surgery Dr. Ryan Minara told Zach Braziller of the New York Post. "Can he do it? Not only are these NFL quarterbacks the best in the world, he’s one of the best of the best, a very competitive guy. So certainly he has that working for him, but just based on the way the body ages, despite being a competitive, high-level athlete, it’s a hard injury to recover from." 

Rodgers turns 40 years old this coming December and has offered mixed messages over the years regarding how much longer he planned on playing before his injury. He claimed as far back as the spring of 2022 that he thinks about retirement "all the time" and said this past January he could walk away from millions of dollars attached to his contract because "money is energy, and I have made a ton of it."

The future Hall of Famer more recently accepted a massive pay cut this summer presumably so he could start for the Jets through at least the 2024 campaign. Ahead of the Week 1 game against the Buffalo Bills, Rodgers hinted during a conversation with Steve Serby of the New York Post that he could follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady and play until he's 45.

With that said, Rodgers' physical prime may have passed even before Monday's events. He played through a broken thumb on his throwing hand he originally suffered in Week 5 last season, later injured his ribs in November and then dealt with multiple calf issues following his trade from the Green Bay Packers to the Jets in April. 

Nevertheless, orthopedic foot and ankle reconstruction expert Dr. Andrew Brief of Ridgewood Orthopedic Group believes the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player could be in the Jets' lineup next September. 

"In the context of his sport, football, he’s not young," Dr. Brief said about Rodgers. "However, in the context of him recovering from an Achilles repair in general, he’s still not considered to be an old man...I would say by no means at this point in time is it fair to count Rodgers out. I would be surprised if this turns out to be a career-ending injury and his first and last game as a New York Jet."

It's worth noting all of this is speculation considering it's unclear if Rodgers will want to play 12 months down the road. Earlier this year, he said he was "90 percent retired and 10 percent playing" before he emerged from his much-publicized darkness retreat and decided he wanted to join the Jets.