Aaron Rodgers has heard the doubts about whether he'll be able to recover from his Achilles injury. He's heard the speculation as to whether he should retire with his return from injury being at age 40. His response? "Watch what I do."
The Jets quarterback made his first public appearance since tearing his Achilles in his New York debut on "Monday Night Football," talking on "The Pat McAfee Show" where he is a regular guest. Right out of the gate, McAfee asked Rodgers what the future had in store for Rodgers, who is still under contract for two more seasons in New York.
Rodgers appeared to put any doubts about his future to rest.
“Give me the doubts, give me the doubts, give me the timetables, give me all the things that you think can should or will happen because all I need is that 1 little extra percent of inspiration. That’s all I need," Rodgers said. "Give me your doubts, give me your prognostications and then watch what I do.”
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Rodgers was asked specifically about when he felt he could make his return to the field, with A.J. Hawk pressing him on whether he might return in time for the postseason. Rodgers said he did not want to make any statements about when he could return, but still left a little room open for optimism.
"I think as Kevin Garnett said, anything's possible," Rodgers said. "It doesn't do anything to make prognostications honestly other than help my own personal mental state. But yeah I'm going to try and push this thing as much as it will allow me. And there's markers I gotta see, where I'm at after a week in, two weeks in, a month and in two months and then we'll see what the conversation is from there."
During his interview, Rodgers walked through everything that happened from the time of his injury until he had the operation to repair the torn tendon on Wednesday. He said when he stood up, he was 95 percent sure he had torn his Achilles. At halftime, players came into the training room where he was to see how he was doing, and said there were plenty of tears from teammates learning of the diagnosis.
Rodgers said he texted Dr. Neal ElAttrache from the locker room to talk with him about having surgery on his Achilles. He recalled that ElAttrache had performed the surgery on Kobe Bryant and he had his own experience with ElAttrache, who had operated on Rodgers for his collarbone in 2017. Rodgers left for Los Angeles, where ElAttrache is based, to prepare for the surgery.
"I didn't want to waste any time. Every day that we wasted, it was a day longer for me not being able to do what I wanted to do," Rodgers said.
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Aaron Rodgers' potential Achilles tear recovery time
When it comes to Rodgers' rehab, he said there are a lot of different ideas for how long it might take, but he said that "just because somebody hasn't ever done it a certain way doesn't mean it's not possible."
He acknowledged that his age will make his rehab from the injury more challenging. However, he said he has been speaking with others who have gone through rehab for an Achilles injury to learn the best ways of coming back.
"It's going to be an interesting type of attacking of the rehab because I'm drawing from all these different sources. I spent the last couple days on the phone with people all over the country, giving me their time and advice," Rodgers said. "So my entire focus and dedication is on acquiring the most information and then adding to what I've already put together as a pretty damn good rehab plan that I think is going to shock some people."
MORE: Doctor outlines Aaron Rodgers' recovery timeline & outlook for NFL return
Rodgers said not to expect to see him on the sidelines for a while as he continues to work his way back from injury. He said he could be in the box at some point, but he wants to make sure he's safe before returning to field level.
For those who enjoy watching him on "The Pat McAfee Show," he confirmed the Achilles won't stop him from making his weekly Tuesday appearances on the show throughout the season.
