Coach Robert Saleh: Aaron Rodgers’ season is over, but Jets’ is not

Quarterback (QB) Aaron Rodgers, the most important arrival to the New York Jets during the NFL offseason, has been ruled out for the rest of the 2023 campaign due to an Achilles tear, a magnetic resonance imaging scan confirmed on Tuesday.

The news was bad enough for many to drag the Jets off their “rising competitors list” and then throw the team on a “their season is over” list.

However, the Jets’ head coach, Robert Saleh, disagreed. “I don’t know why people are trying to put an obituary under our team name,” he said. He refused to speculate on the future of Rodgers, who is a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player and, at the same time, a 39-year-old veteran. Judging by the latter and the severity of his injury, it’s logical to doubt how long it will take for Rodgers to come back and whether he will be able to get back to his best again.

“As you guys can imagine, he’s down,” Saleh said of Rodgers. “I’ll let him answer those questions. I didn’t get into the future of what he’s expecting or what he’s thinking. I think that’s a conversation, tactfully, left for another day. But he’s, as you can imagine, with everything that he’s invested in this, he’s obviously a little disappointed.”

Despite the loss of Rodgers, the Jets managed to beat the Buffalo Bills 22-16 in overtime at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Monday. Zach Wilson replaced Rodgers after he was down, passing 14-for-21 for 140 yards and one touchdown with one interception. He helped the Jets overcome a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

“I do want to make it very clear: Zach’s our quarterback,” Saleh said. “We’ve got a lot of faith in Zach. This is Zach’s team and we’re rolling with Zach.”

Before the 2023 season, Wilson made 22 appearances for the Jets, all as a starter, with an 8-14 record. The team has not appeared in the playoffs since the 2010 season.