Aaron Rodgers knows all too well what it's like.
He was infamously down on the MetLife Stadium turf four offensive snaps into the 2023 season opener. In his first game with the New York Jets, Rodgers tore his left Achilles.
Twelve months and four days after Rodgers was injured, starting defensive end Jermaine Johnson went down in the third quarter against the Tennessee Titans. The third-year player, who is coming off a Pro Bowl selection, suffered an Achilles injury on a 21-yard scramble by Titans' quarterback Will Levis.
Johnson was taken off the field on a golf cart and the Jets quickly ruled him out for the remainder of the September 15 road game. After the 24-17 victory, Jets' head coach Robert Saleh speculated that Johnson has, indeed, torn his Achilles.
"I knew he was hurt and carted off, so I was worried about him. I saw actually on the jumbotron it said Achilles, so, my heart kind of dropped a little bit," said Rodgers. "He is handling it a lot better than I did so far. It’s going to be a big loss for us."
It was a hard road back for Rodgers, but the determined future Hall-of-Fame quarterback completed the challenge at 40 years old. Leading the Jets to their first win in the 2024 season, Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and engineered a crisp fourth-quarter scoring drive that proved to be the difference.
"Good news is, he’s a very young player that is going to have a very long career," said Rodgers about the 25-year-old Johnson. "There’s a lot of great people out there to take care of him. I’m a bit bias with Dr. ElAttrache. We briefly talked, I just told him I love him and told him I was sorry."
ElAttrache, a renowned surgeon, reportedly performed an innovative speed bridge procedure on Rodgers, who was back practice with the Jets last December, only three months post-surgery.
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