Breaking Down the Aaron Rodgers Injury and Its Impact on the Packers

The unthinkable happened to former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Monday Night when he went down with an injury on the New York Jets opening series and didn’t return for the rest of the game.

The Jets’ offensive line was a significant question mark entering the season, and Rodgers didn’t last long behind them. He was pressured on all three of his dropbacks before finally being sacked on his third passing attempt and leaving the game with what was initially ruled an ankle injury.

Rodgers stayed on the ground after the sack, calling for the training staff to come on the field. He wouldn’t let his teammates help him up, instead relying on two training staff members to carry him off the field. He entered the injury tent soon after and took a cart back to the locker room for further evaluations.

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered an apparently serious injury early in Week 1. How will it impact the Packers?

Rodgers was initially ruled as questionable to return with an ankle injury, but was ruled out for the game following an x-ray. He was also seen in a walking boot in the locker room area.

After the game, the Jets and head coach Robert Saleh expressed their concern that it was a severe achillies injury for Rodgers. Rodgers will have an MRI on Tuesday to “confirm what we think is already going to happen.” Twitter doctors are already expressing their diagnosis of an achillies tear for the future Hall of Famer.

That’s awful news for Rodgers and will severely cloud the future of his career. An achillies tear saps athleticism and is a very long recovery. At 39 years old, there’s no telling how much he has left in the tank and if this will empty it completely.

It would be awful for Rodgers to go down this way–both for people who care about him and football fans. He’s been one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game and has brought a lot of joy to the football field over the years. All we can do now is wait for an official diagnosis (this article will be updated once that happens).

Moving on to business, the ruthless part of the NFL, this dramatically affects the trade the Packers made with the Jets this offseason. Rodgers has to play in at least 65 percent of the offensive snaps for Green Bay to receive a first-round draft pick. Otherwise, it converts to a second-rounder in 2024.

Roughly speaking, 65 percent of a 17-game season would be a little over 11 games. We can already count Rodgers as having missed one game, giving him a five-game grace period for Green Bay to collect their first-rounder. Considering the Jets have their bye in Week 7, that means Rodgers needs to return by October 29th and play the rest of the season to hit that threshold. If not, the Packers will collect a second-rounder from the Jets in 2024.

The draft compensation is on a secondary note at this point, however. Let’s all hope a miracle happened overnight and it’s not a season, and possibly career, ending achillies injury for Rodgers.