What did the New York Jets’ Aaron Rodgers say to those who doubt he can come back from his Achilles injury?

Having undergone an operation on Wednesday to repair his torn Achilles tendon, the four-time league MVP was not only defiant in answer to the notion of him calling it quits, but also in a surprisingly upbeat mood. Yet, such is the way of the former Packers star. After all, it’s Aaron Rodgers we’re talking about.

Aaron Rodgers is set on returning

If one thing is certain about Aaron Rodgers, it’s that he’s a fighter and always has been. Following his terrible injury during the Jets win against the Bills on Monday night, many began to speculate about whether we had seen the last of the 39-year-old. Speaking during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” Rodgers dispelled the notion completely, saying that he “knew right away this was not a good situation” before explaining his thinking as he begins his path to recovery.

“Give me the doubts,” Rodgers told McAfee. “Give me the timetables. Give me all the things you think can, should or will happen, because all I need is that one little extra percent of inspiration. That’s all I need. Give me your doubts. Give me your prognostications. And then watch what I do.” Despite his defiant attitude, Rodgers did admit on the show that the period following the injury was “one of the toughest 24-hour stretches I’ve had in my life.” Understandable, when considering that it occurred just four plays into what was supposed to be his monumental debut for the Jets. “Then it turned into one of the toughest 24-hour stretches I’ve had in my life, for sure,” Rodgers said. “Lot of sadness, lot of tears, lot of dark frustration and anger - all the gamut of emotions. The sun rose the next day, and I found myself in LA and had surgery on Wednesday.”

The support shown humbled Aaron Rodgers

One thing that the four-time MVP was quick to point out was how overwhelming the level of support he was shown was. From former teammates and players from all across the league, to complete strangers, the messages poured in and it was something that very much moved the man himself. “I think I shed just as many tears about the support and the nice messages than just the sadness of what happened,” he said. Of course, it’s not hard to understand the emotion in play. After all, Rodgers’ move to the ‘Big Apple’ after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers was perhaps the biggest moment of the off-season, and so one can imagine the kind of anticipation that surrounded his debut.

Ultimately, it was not meant to be and now a team that had clear Super Bowl ambitions must pick itself up and find a way to overcome the brutal blow that was Rodgers’ injury. It’s worth noting that to that end the Jets were in fact able to salvage a win on Monday night. On the back of an impressive ground game from second-year running back Breece Hall and a solid stand-in performance from third-year QB Zach Wilson, The Jets got the all-important win. It’s also worth noting that Wilson was benched last year on the basis of several poor performances. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how the team fares now that head coach Robert Saleh has confirmed that Wilson will be the starter.

Could Aaron Rodgers play in the postseason?

That would be something wouldn’t it? When asked if he thought he could return for the playoffs, Rodgers said, with a smirk: “Anything is possible.” To be clear, the postseason starts on January 13th, which is roughly four months from now. This is to say that it would be nothing short of miraculous if he were able to return in that timeline. Take into account that a tear to the Achilles is something that can sideline a player for up to a year and that’s without being the age that Rodgers - a veteran - is at. Regardless, what we can assume is that one way or another, we’re going to see Aaron Rodgers in the NFL again.