How Will Aaron Rodgers, 40, Perform Coming Off an Achilles Tear?

We look at how other elite professional athletes fared in their comebacks from the diffcult injury.

Aaron Rodgers (left) and Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Aaron Rodgers returns to the NFL on Monday night, confident he is ready to go after tearing his Achilles tendon four snaps into the 2023 season.

Others in professional sports have made successful comebacks from the same injury, but Rodgers’ quest is different in one significant way: The former Cal star is 40 years old. 

The day before Rodgers and the New York Jets take on the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, 36, will begin his own comeback from an Achilles tear against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

How they fare in a physical game remains to be seen, although as quarterbacks don’t often need to demonstrate the kind of explosiveness that can stress an Achilles tendon.

Age, perhaps more than any other factor, seems to be the biggest indicator of a successful comeback. Even then, there are exceptions.

Here are 13 elite athletes who suffered Achilles tendon injuries (with their age at the time of the injury in parenthesis) and how they fared in their comeback:

Breanna Stewart shoots against the LA Sparks / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

BREANNA STEWART (24): The WNBA superstar ruptured her right Achilles in April 14, 2019 during a EuroLeague championship game with Russia’s Dynamo Kursk. She missed the entire 2019 WNBA summer season, then returned to average 19.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in 2020, finishing second in the MVP voting. In fact, in four seasons since returning, she has been a top-3 MVP vote-getter each year, winning it in 2023.

TERRELL SUGGS (29): The Baltimore Ravens linebacker tore his Achilles in an offseason incident on May 2012 and made a remarkable return to action after just 5 months and 6 days, collecting a sack and four tackles vs. the Houston Texans on Oct. 21, 2012. A year later, in 2013, he made the Pro Bowl for the sixth time. Suggs played in the NFL through 2019.

Kevin Durant / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

KEVIN DURANT (30): Durant tore his Achilles on June 10, 2019 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals with the Warriors. He sat out all of the 2019-20 season while rehabbing, then returned in 2020-21, averaging 26.9 points and earning All-Star Game status with the Brooklyn Nets. Durant has averaged 28.2 points over four seasons since the injury, although last season was the first time he played more than 55 games.

KLAY THOMPSON (30): Three days after Durant’s injury, Thompson, having just turned 29, tore his ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. While recovering from that, Thompson ruptured his Achilles in November 2020. He finally returned from the two catastrophic injuries on Jan. 9, 2022 — after 941 days — and scored 17 points in 20 minutes in a win over the Cavaliers. He averaged 20.4 points in 32 regular-season games and helped the Warriors win the 2022 NBA title.

Olympic champion Christian Taylor / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

CHRISTIAN TAYLOR (30):  A two-time Olympic gold medalist (2012 and 2016) and four-time world champion in the triple jump, Taylor tore his Achilles in May 2021 at a meet at Ostrava, Czech Republic, wiping out his hopes of a three-peat at the Tokyo Olympics. The owner of the second-longest jump in history, Taylor, now 34, failed to qualify for the Paris Games this summer after finishing 10th at the U.S. trials.

RYAN HOWARD (31): MVP of the National League in 2006 when he hit 58 home runs, Howard averaged 41 homers and batted .285 over his first seven full seasons in the majors. But in the Phillies’ season-ending loss to St. Louis in Game 5 of the 2011 NL division series, Howard fell to the ground while leaving the batter’s box on a groundout. He played five seasons after the Achilles tear, but his numbers plummeted to 19 home runs per season and a .226 batting average.

ISIAH THOMAS (32): The Hall of Fame guard already was in decline on April 19, 1994 when he tore his Achilles. A month later, having averaged a career-low 14.8 points in 1993-94, Thomas retired from the NBA.

Dan Marino / ROBERT DEUTSCH, USA TODAY

DAN MARINO (32): One of the NFL’s most prolific passers, Marino threw a swing pass for the Miami Dolphins against the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 10, 1993 when he went to the turf, untouched, with a torn Achilles. To say he made a successful comeback is an understatement: He returned for the 1994 opener, passing for 473 yards and five touchdowns in a win over New England. Over his final six games, Marino started 86 games, averaging more than 4,000 yards and 24 TD passes.

DOMINIQUE WILKINS (32): Wilkins suffered his Achilles tear on Jan. 28, 1992 and was back on the court to start the 1992-93 season. The Hall of Famer, known as the Human Highlight Film, scored 33 points in his first game and averaged 29.9 for the full season. Wilkins played until age 39, including one season each in Greece and Italy.

TIGER WOODS (33): Woods suffered an injury to his right Achilles in December 2008, although he did not undergo surgery and didn’t disclose the injury until more than a year later. He was PGA Player of the Year in 2009 but did not win his 15th and final major title until the Masters in 2019. The Achilles has continued to be a periodic problem but Woods also has dealt with a series of other health issues, including an ACL tear, four back surgeries and a life-threatening single-vehicle accident in February 2021.

David Beckham / Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY, USA TODAY via Imagn Content Services, LLC

DAVID BECKHAM (34): One of international soccer’s brightest stars, Beckham tore his left Achilles on March 2010 while playing for AC Milan. The popular British midfielder was back on the field on Sept. 11 of that year and a month later scored his first goal for the LA Galaxy. He retired in 2013, after a 20-year career that included stints with Manchester United and Real Madrid, plus six seasons in the MLS.

KOBE BRYANT (34): The late Los Angeles Lakers legend shot two free throws after tearing his Achilles against the Warriors on on April 12, 2013. But he never was the same. Bryant averaged just 13.8 points in six games the next season and averaged 18.9 points over his final three seasons after scoring at a 27.4 clip his first 15 fulls seasons.

JOHNNY UNITAS (38): Regarded as one of the NFL’s first great passers, the three-time MVP tore his Achilles in the spring of 1971 while playing paddle ball at a YMCA. He had just a 5-9 record as a starter in his final three seasons, throwing 10 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.