Surgeons sound warnings about Jets' Aaron Rodgers returning this season

Multiple prominent orthopedic surgeons believe both quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets should think twice before Rodgers rushes back into action this season from the torn Achilles he suffered in Week 1 on Sept. 11. 

"We’re not just talking about a guy who’s just coming back and throwing," Dr. Stephen Nicholas told Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post about Rodgers possibly re-injuring the Achilles. "Coming back [too soon], you’re going to put that thing under stress. My concern would be more the impact of contact and specific positions he’s going to put himself in."

"Then it’s a much bigger problem, because now you’re dealing with comprised biology in the area, poorer healing potential and it would be much more difficult for him to recover from that," Dr. John Kennedy added about Rodgers going down with a second serious injury to the area. 

After Rodgers walked without crutches and tossed passes at MetLife Stadium ahead of New York's win over the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend, reports mentioned that the future Hall of Famer who turns 40 years old in December could return to the starting lineup for either the Week 15 game at the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 17 or the Week 16 home contest versus the Washington Commanders on Christmas Eve. 

The so-called "speed bridge" procedure used to repair Rodgers' Achilles in September has helped him accelerate his recovery, but chief of sports medicine at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center Dr. Peter DeLuca noted that the technique "speeds up the rehab, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it speeds up the return to play" even for a top-tier professional athlete. 

"Even though [the speed bridge] is a newer technique and may enhance the recovery, there’s still that time it takes for the tendon to heal, and I would think you’d have to cautious for sending him back [to play] too early because you don’t want to re-tear," Dr. Spencer Stein explained.

The Jets entered their Week 7 bye at 3-3 and sitting outside of what would be the conference's playoff spots if the season ended today. Rodgers accepted a significant pay cut this past summer presumably to play for the franchise beyond the 2023 season, and Dr. Kennedy suggested the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player won't ever again be what he was in his prime even if he waits until next summer to face a live defense for the first time since his surgery.

"We have data from NBA and NFL studies that 30-to-50 percent of professional athletes in the NBA and NFL never return after rupturing an Achilles," Kennedy said. "What are you thinking coming back too soon? That would make no sense. If it was you or me, I’d say a year [recovery]. If it’s a professional athlete, I’d say five or six months."

To his credit, Rodgers acknowledged during a Tuesday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" that everyone should "just cool our jets a little bit" regarding his playing status. For what it's worth, ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote for a piece published Wednesday that "the likely outcome" is that Rodgers ultimately "can't make it back from his Achilles injury this season."