(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
The New York Jets were the recipient of a huge dose of bad fortune when newly acquired future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles during their first offensive series of the season on Monday.
They somehow managed to overcome a deficit and defeat the Buffalo Bills in overtime, but in the blink of a second, they went from legitimate Super Bowl contenders back to a team that may have to struggle just to claim the final Wild Card playoff spot in the AFC.
In a message he posted on Instagram, Rodgers vowed to return, and former Green Bay Packers teammate Davis Bakhtiari seems confident that he will bounce back, per NFL.com.
David Bakhtiari “gutted” by Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury in first game with Jets: “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”https://t.co/PtATcNyslK pic.twitter.com/8vWPOeLsYx
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 14, 2023
“I was just gutted for him,” Bakhtiari said, via PackersNews.com. “I know all that he was dealing with and how excited he was, and I know how much the game means to him. For it to go that quick, and especially with that type of injury, having to bounce back from that, it’s going to be tough. But he’s a tough dude.
Other than perhaps brain trauma, a torn Achilles is the worst injury a football player, or any athlete for that matter, can suffer, and although the technology behind the treatment of such an injury has greatly improved, it is still a devastating one.
Rodgers will be out for this season, and given that he is 39 years of age, one has to wonder if this will be the end of the line for him.
For the past 10 seasons, Bakhtiari, one of the better left tackles in the NFL, helped make sure Rodgers could avoid catastrophic injuries, at least most of the time.
In 2013, Rodgers suffered a collarbone injury while being sacked by Shea McClellin of the Chicago Bears, an injury that forced him to miss seven games.
Then in 2017, he again injured his collarbone and was limited to seven games.
While both of those injuries were fractures, this torn Achilles has put Rodgers in uncharted waters, seemingly without a paddle.
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