Aaron Rodgers giveth. And Aaron Rodgers taketh away.
The question is whether Aaron Rodgers should stayeth away.
He wants to play again this year. Before his comment to Chargers safety Derwin James was caught on a hot mic, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were talking about (after talking to Rodgers before the game) a potential return in December.
That’s a broad range. The Jets play five games in December. Before any of them get started, Rodgers turns 40 on the second day of the month. So he’d be 40 and coming back from a torn Achilles tendon and playing behind a leaky offensive line and potentially running around and taking hits and getting injured again.
This is what he needs to ask himself. Is the reward worth the risk? Should he fight to return to a situation that could get him injured again? After spending months recovering from the Achilles tendon tear, does he want to spend the offseason recovering from another one? Or from a major knee injury? Or from some other physical problem?
Much of it depends on whether his presence will potentially make a difference. The 4-4 Jets face the dangerously rejuvenated Raiders on Sunday night, followed by a trip to Buffalo and a Black Friday visit from the Dolphins.
December arrives after those three games. If the Jets lose each one (and based on the performance of the offense last night they could), the Jets will be 4-7 with six games left. There will be no margin for error if they hope to make the playoffs.
December starts with home games against the Falcons and Texans. Before the season, those looked like soft spots on the schedule. Now, they have hardened.
The Jets finish with a trip to Miami, a home game against Washington, a short-week game in Cleveland, and a contest at Gillette Stadium that quite possibly will be Bill Belichick’s swan song.
Once that eighth loss comes, the playoffs could become unrealistic. If the eighth loss comes before Rodgers returns, why do it?
That’s a very real factor that Rodgers surely is considering. While Zach Wilson isn’t processing things quickly enough, there’s not an abundance of time. The blocking isn’t there. The offense isn’t clicking under coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Even if Rodgers could make it suddenly click, why do it if, as a practical matter, no amount of clicking will punch a ticket to the playoffs?
It would be great for this business (and others like it) if Rodgers returns during the 2023 season. It might not be great for Rodgers.