Jets' Aaron Rodgers still could be in play for return in Christmas Eve game
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks on during the second half against the Texans at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Lee S. Weissman/Lee S. Weissman
An Aaron Rodgers return on Christmas Eve hasn’t been ruled out yet.
If the Jets (5-8) win in Miami on Sunday, they will remain mathematically alive in the AFC playoff race. That is one of Rodgers’ prerequisites for coming back from the left Achilles tendon tear he suffered in Week 1.
Rodgers has targeted the Dec. 24 home game against Washington for his return. TMZ Sports reported Monday that Rodgers will be medically cleared before that game.
“I don’t have any knowledge on that one,” coach Robert Saleh said. “If that’s something that he’s had with his personal doctor out in L.A., I’m not privy to that yet.”
The Jets have until a week from Wednesday to activate Rodgers or he will remain on injured reserve. The organization will have some say on if he plays again this season.
If the Jets have no shot to make the playoffs, even Rodgers has said he doesn’t think returning “would make a ton of sense, and I don’t know what the team is going to feel about that.”
When Saleh was asked if it is conceivable for Rodgers to play Dec. 24, he said, “I have no idea” and added that his focus is on getting ready for the next game.
“We are approaching it as if he’s in rehab, and when the doctor gives us his doctor’s note to clear him for the next stage, that’s when we’ll have those discussions,” Saleh said.
Rodgers is on his own rehab schedule.
He’s gotten some work in at practice during the last two weeks, doing drop-backs, throwing to receivers and running the post-practice “Flight School” for players who don’t get a lot of reps.
“He’s doing a little bit of everything,” Saleh said. “He’s doing what a backup quarterback would do, I guess.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
