Jets Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Out for Season With Torn Achilles

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers will miss the 2023 season with a torn Achilles, an MRI confirmed Tuesday via ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Rodgers, 39, suffered the left-leg injury on the first drive of Monday’s win against the Buffalo Bills in his first regular season game for the Jets.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh confirmed Rodgers' season-ending injury in a press conference Tuesday, saying that Rodgers will need surgery.

"I feel more for Aaron than anyone," Saleh said in the press conference. "I don't look at it like 'woe is me' here for the organization."

The Jets traded their 2023 first, second and sixth-round picks and their 2024 second-round pick (which turns into their first-round pick if Rodgers plays 65% of the Jets’ offensive snaps this season) to the Green Bay Packers. In exchange, they got Rodgers and Green Bay’s 2023 first and fifth-round picks (in April).

New York made the trade after two unsatisfactory seasons from 2021 No. 2 pick Zach Wilson. The Jets have Rodgers under contract for three years. Rodgers is signed for $112.5 million, with $75 million guaranteed.

Wilson played quarterback for the Jets after Rodgers exited Monday’s game. Saleh confirmed Tuesday that Wilson will be starting quarterback for the immediate future, despite reports that the Jets were reaching out to veteran free agent QBs.

Saleh also said that the team has more confidence in Wilson than last year; Wilson was benched in November amid conflict with teammates who thought Wilson wasn't taking proper responsibility for the Jets' losses. Saleh touted Wilson's improvement throughout the press conference, saying that he was "leap years" ahead of where he was this time last year.

"I don't know why people are trying to put an obituary onto our team name," Saleh said.