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Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers will be ready to go when the New York Jets begin OTA practices on May 20.
The four-time MVP, eight months removed from surgery to repair a torn left Achilles, will have “no restrictions,” according to coach Robert Saleh.
“Once phase three hits, we’re not anticipating any restrictions from what we can and can’t do with him,” Saleh said Friday at the start of a two-day rookie minicamp.
Phase three, which lasts four weeks and covers 10 practices, is when teams are allowed to do non-contact, 11-on-11 work. That Rodgers will participate shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering he was practicing on a limited basis over the final month of the season. Still, it’s noteworthy, considering the severity of his injury.
“The guy can still sling it,” Saleh said. “Obviously, he’s still working through his rehab, but there are no issues on the trajectory on which he’s going.”
Even with Rodgers’ return, the Jets won’t be at full strength at quarterback until training camp in late July. Former Florida State star Jordan Travis, drafted last weekend in the fifth round, won’t participate in the offseason, but he should be cleared for training camp, Saleh said.
The Jets, who traded former No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson to the Denver Broncos before the draft, selected Travis as a developmental prospect who can learn behind Rodgers and new backup Tyrod Taylor.
Travis suffered a gruesome, season-ending ankle injury last Nov. 18 against North Alabama, requiring surgery. Travis, who said getting drafted was a “freaking dream come true,” indicated last weekend that he’d confer with the Jets’ trainers before setting a timetable for return. On Friday, he rode a stationary bike during part of the practice.
Saleh called Travis a “ball of clay” in terms of his potential, adding, “He’s a tremendously talented young man and extremely gifted, especially athletically. He’s got a lot of work to do for sure, especially with tying his lower half to his arm and all that good stuff, but he’s a gifted athlete.”
In five seasons at Florida State, Travis passed for 8,643 yards, 65 touchdowns and finished his career with 17 straight wins.
Rodgers was injured on the fourth snap of the season, essentially derailing the Jets’ Super Bowl dream. They wound up starting three other quarterbacks — Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian — and finished 7-10.
The future Hall of Famer vowed to make an unprecedented comeback from the Achilles tear, but he aborted the comeback with three games to go because the Jets had fallen out of contention. He did return to practice, though, only 2½ months after surgery.
“It’s been a year since he’s been hurt,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said, “so now the narrative is, ‘Let’s keep Aaron healthy’ instead of what the first narrative was last year.”