Cal Sports Report

Aaron Rodgers Injures Achilles on Jets' Fourth Offensive Play

Former Cal quarterback Rodgers exits early against Bills and his season -- and maybe his career -- is probably over. But Jets win in OT

Jake Curtis

All the hype about what former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers will do for the New York Jets this season came to stunning halt early in the first quarter Monday night.

On the Jets' fourth offensive play following a Bills punt, Rodgers was sacked. He got up, looked to the sidelines for the next play, but then collapsed and stayed down.

It apparently is an Achilles injury, and that means Rodgers' season -- and possibly his career -- is over.

An MRI will be performed Tuesday, but it is believed to be a torn Achilles, which would definitely end Rodgers' season. And at age 39, Rodgers' career may very well be over.

"Concerned with his Achilles," Jets coach Robert Saleh said after the game. "An MRI is probably going to confirm what we think has happened. But it's not good."

Rodgers was replaced by Zach Wilson, who played the rest of the game.

Midway through the second quarter the Jets announced Rodgers would not return during Monday's game. X-rays revealed no fracture on his injured left ankle, but he was sidelined for the day.

Nonetheless, the Jets beat the Bills 22-16 in overtime on a 65-yard punt return by Xavier Gipson, a free-agent rookie from Stephen F. Austin.

Now the question is whether Rodgers will ever play a football game again.

The Jets face the Dallas Cowboys next week, the New England Patriots the week after that and the Kansas City Chiefs in their fourth game.

When the 39-year-old Rodgers was seen riding on a cart that was taken to the locker room it certainly appeared Rodgers was done for the night. 

It's now evident that Rodgers is most likely done for the season, and his future in the NFL is in doubt.

Rodgers' first pass on New York's second offensive play fell incomplete.  His second pass was also incomplete, but a defensive pass interference penalty took that pass off the board and gave New York a first down.

On the fourth play, Rodgers was sacked for a 10-yard loss by Leonard Floyd with 11:15 left in the first quarter.  It was on that sack that Rodgers' ankle was twisted.

The play did not look dangerous, and Rodgers got up and looked to the sidelines for the next play. But then he collapsed to the ground. That is the typical reaction for a torn Achilles tendon, which often occurs without contact.

Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers after the injury is by Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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