With Aaron Rodgers, it's 'FRAGILE,' handle with care
There seems to be little reason to fret over the calf discomfort — it seems like an overreaction to even call it an injury — that sidelined Aaron Rodgers during an otherwise meaningless OTA practice this past week. He apparently felt a little something in his leg while going through calisthenics before the workout and decided it would be best to give himself a few days of cautious recovery rather than push himself and create a bigger problem.
Smart.
In an interview on SiriusXM’s NFL Radio recorded the next day, he said he expects to be back as a full participant in the drills this week. Perhaps he will stick to throwing footballs and not heavy medicine bags, which is what appeared to do him in last Tuesday and produce the stutter to his on-field public debut for his new team.
It’s all part of the getting-to-know-each-other process between Rodgers and the Jets. He was game enough to try an exercise routine he hadn’t done in almost two decades to show he was not above menial tasks, but when it created that situation with his calf, the Jets were wise enough to listen to what Rodgers had to say about his own body and the best course of action.
Even if the calf situation lingers into this week, it probably won’t be an issue much beyond then. As for the skepticism it created in the Jets’ fan base, that’s nothing a few social media photos and videos of him back on the practice field won’t be able to cure.
But this whole incident did serve a purpose.
It demonstrated just how fragile and frail the Jets’ hopes for the upcoming season really are, and that going all-in on a 39-year-old quarterback (no matter how many MVP trophies he has) comes with a good amount of risk.
When Rodgers’ calf was at 100% before Tuesday’s practice, Robert Saleh positioned his Jets as among the top teams in the league.
“I think 32 coaches stand in front of their team every year and talk about winning a championship,” he said. “Realistically, there’s maybe six to eight teams that have an actual chance to do it, and I do think we are one of those teams.”
He was right. It was audacious but accurate. Saleh even floated (as a point of emphasis, but the words came out) the idea of the Jets being something better than being in the top tier of teams. He touched the idea of perfection.
“I’d love to go 17-0 and cruise through the playoffs and win a championship, but you’re not going to be able to unless you focus on the moment,” he said.
A few moments later, the focus was on Rodgers’ calf.
Had Saleh spoken after Rodgers did not practice, or if the injury were more serious, perhaps he would not have been as verbally valiant.
The Jets showed us last season what they are without Rodgers. They are a team with some tantalizing young talent and a few veteran standouts that succumbs to pressure and lacks the one element that NFL organizations need to be truly competitive in this era: a quarterback who can bring it all together.
Without Rodgers they are 7-10. They are winless in their final six games. They are the last-place team in the AFC East. They are 12 years and counting without a postseason appearance. They are Zach Wilson’s team.
It’s only with Rodgers that they are in that tier of a half- dozen of so squads capable of being much more and winning it all. A healthy, fully functioning Rodgers, that is.
This isn’t about Rodgers playing through pain and discomfort. There is nothing on his resume that suggests he shies away from gutting through the rigors that an NFL season can exact on a quarterback’s body. He’s done that, from his toe to his thumb and a few other places in between, during the last few years. And had this recent calf situation popped up on a Sunday in October or November instead of a midweek afternoon in May, yes, he almost certainly would have pushed through it.
“I’ve always wanted to be on the field and always had a really good relationship with the trainers, but not good enough on their side where they can tell me not to play because my answer was I’m always going to try to get on the field,” Rodgers said. “I always felt like if my 80% was better than the guy behind me, then I should be on the field. I always thought that was a good barometer for every player.
“There seems to be, in more recent years, some guys looking to be told not to play. My stance has always been I’m going to tell the trainers when I’m going to play.”
Lest anyone forget, it was the wearing down of Brett Favre that made his one-year tenure with the Jets swing from epic to footnote on the hinge of a torn biceps tendon, and he played every game during that 2008 season.
That’s the peril of this straw castle the Jets have built for themselves. It’s a beautiful building with the potential to become a landmark in the annals of football architecture. But one huff and puff on the right support beam and it all crumbles.
The same is true for almost every other team in the NFL. Take the star quarterback away from Kansas City, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Philadelphia or Baltimore for an extended period and they are not close to being contenders. Those teams, however, have recent successes to buoy them through any such misadventure, not to mention futures with their young quarterbacks to build toward.
The Jets have neither.
The Jets team that was on the practice fields this past week without Rodgers participating is not a team that can win. They already have proved that. It is Rodgers who can put them over the top.
He certainly can’t do that from the sideline. He probably can’t do it fighting against injuries all season long.
This calf situation soon will be forgotten as a non-factor. It will heal up, if it hasn’t already, and Rodgers will move along through the remainder of the offseason program, the preseason, the regular season, and, yes, whatever lies beyond that.
Let it serve as a warning of this season’s reality, though:
While Rodgers’ presence changes everything the Jets were for most of the past decade, any absence will send them right back to what they have been.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
