Jets GM 'Expecting' Aaron Rodgers to Return from Injury; Doesn't Offer Timetable

New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas has officially weighed in on the will-he-or-won't-he drama surrounding Aaron Rodgers' potential return from a torn Achilles.

Douglas told reporters the Jets are "expecting" the quarterback to return from the injury he suffered in Week 1. The general manager then clarified he meant the expectation is Rodgers will be around the team and did not offer a firm prediction about whether he will return to the field this season.

Rodgers suffered the torn Achilles during New York's opening possession in its Week 1 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

It was quite the blow for a team that had elevated expectations in large part because the future Hall of Famer was now under center. After all, the Jets seemed to only be missing formidable quarterback play during the 2022 campaign, and Rodgers was going to be the answer.

Logic dictated that the earliest NFL fans would see Rodgers back on the field would be the 2024 season after the setback.

However, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported in September the 39-year-old was "targeting an improbable playoff return" after he underwent "an innovative surgery" that included placing an internal brace on the Achilles.

"It's a relatively new process designed to have an athlete fully recovered in as little as four months from what is normally a season-ending injury," Rapoport and Pelissero wrote.

Rodgers himself also teased a potential return during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show:

Part of returning for the playoffs would require the team actually making the postseason, and it didn't seem like that was even a realistic hope when the Jets lost three games in a row during Weeks 2 through 4 with Zach Wilson under center.

Yet they have rebounded nicely with three consecutive victories, including an ugly 13-10 win over the New York Giants on Sunday. Wilson hasn't been spectacular, but the combination of a strong defense and playmakers such as Garrett Wilson has given New York new hope in the postseason race.

And a Rodgers return for any postseason game would be quite a full-circle moment for a franchise that will filled with so much of that hope before his Achilles injury.