Future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers will return to the field in 2024 after rupturing his Achilles tendon four snaps into his Jets regular-season debut. While there are high expectations for the Green & White with the 40-year-old signal caller back under center, Rodgers is hoping to play beyond this upcoming season.
"I got back on the practice field late in the season and couldn't get to a top speed sprinting, but really been in a good place rehab-wise, from the start, and feeling really good," Rodgers said in a recent interview on the "Look Into It" podcast with Eddie Bravo. "I'm hopeful I can play two or three or four more years, but you need to have some good fortune in there to."
Rodgers, a 19-year veteran and four-time MVP, was traded to the Jets last offseason. Last July, Rodgers signed a new two-year agreement that would keep him with the Green & White through the 2024 season.
From the moment Rodgers got to New York, he's bought in participating in a majority of OTAs, all of training camp last summer and staying around the team and the training facility even after his injury.
Rodgers underwent surgery on Sept. 14. and spent the regular season split between California and New Jersey, aggressively rehabbing in hopes of coming back if the team had been in playoff contention late in the year.
The Jets were eliminated following a Week 15 loss to the Dolphins, however ,Rodgers returned to practice on Nov. 29 on a limited basis and was added to the active roster on Dec. 30. At the end of the regular season, Rodgers said he felt good about the progress he had made and the outlook for himself and the team in 2024.
"I learned a lot about resilience and dealing with adversity this year," Rodgers said. "It was a really difficult year, it kind of hit me after the last game, just feeling like a lost year and that I missed out on obviously a lot of opportunity. … But, I'm thankful for a lot of things that happened during that time and the relationships that were formed and the people that showed up for me, and you know adversity can bring out the worst or the best in you, and I'm thankful for the lessons I've learned in the process of the sadness and frustration and excited to be back after it."
During an interview in December on "The Pat McAfee Show," Rodgers mentioned wanting to play at least two more seasons beyond 2023. In the recent podcast, it seems he has bigger aspirations. If Rodgers makes it happen, he will play through the 2027 season, which he would begin at 43 years old with his 44th birthday in December 2027.
