Robert Saleh: Aaron Rodgers is "on a mission" to play
Five weeks ago today, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles tendon. Yesterday, he was on the field without crutches or any external assistance, throwing passes.
It's all part of his obsession with playing again, this year.
“Aaron was in our facility on Saturday,” coach Robert Saleh told Peter King for his weekly Football Morning in America column. “I was talking to him. I was like, ‘So what’s the deal? You gonna go up to the box tomorrow? Watch from the box?’ He goes, ‘No, I want be on the field.’ I was like, ‘What about your ankle?’ He goes, ‘I’m fine.’ I was like, ‘K, whatever you want, buddy.’ He is on a mission. I don’t put anything past him. I’ve heard he’s absolutely dominating rehab and he really wants to get back this year. That’s why getting wins like this and staying in it and staying in the hunt, giving him that opportunity to fulfill his mission, is so vital.”
It meshes with something Saleh told reporters after the game, in far more colorful terms: "For him to be on the sideline standing the entire time, he’s a freakazoid."
It really is amazing. Some think it might be too amazing. Specifically, some in the medical community wonder whether Rodgers actually suffered a full tear of the Achilles, or whether it was just a partial tear.
Why embellish such a thing? Two words: Willis Reed.
What better way to grow a legend than to make an unlikely return from a serious injury seem even more unlikely? I have no reason to doubt that the Achilles was fully torn. And he'll probably now mention this wrinkle tomorrow, even though he claims to not pay attention to crap like this.
Regardless, fully or partially torn, it's a serious injury. And he's making serious progress. And he could help the Jets become serious contenders if/when he's ready to play again this year.
