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Rich Cimini, ESPN Staff Writer
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers will not play again this season, the New York Jets confirmed Wednesday, but he will continue to practice.
With Rodgers’ 21-day practice window due to close, the Jets decided to activate Rodgers to the 53-man roster for the final three games. It’s a victory of sorts for Rodgers, who had attempted to return from Achilles surgery faster than any player in NFL history. Symbolically, this will allow him to be part of the team, but it’s also unusual because he is taking up a roster spot.
Coach Robert Saleh made it clear there is no chance of Rodgers getting into a game.
“No, no, no, he’s not [playing],” Saleh said.
Saleh said the Jets (5-9), out of playoff contention, have enough roster flexibility to make this move. It means they have four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster: Rodgers, Zach Wilson, Trevor Siemian and Brett Rypien. Wilson, injured in Sunday’s 30-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins, remains in the concussion protocol, but there is still a chance he could play Sunday against the Washington Commanders, Saleh said.
Rodgers, 40, has practiced six times over the past three weeks, impressing teammates and coaches with his rapid recovery from Sept. 13 surgery. It was always considered a long shot that he would make it back for a game. If the team didn’t activate him, leaving him on injured reserve, Rodgers wouldn’t have been permitted to practice.
“It’s all part of his rehab, and just having him out on the football field is a plus for everybody,” Saleh said. “It’s a plus for him. It’s a plus for his teammates. And so we’re going to keep him up for practice.”
Rodgers had been targeting Sunday’s game as a potential return, but he announced Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he was done for the season. He acknowledged that his left Achilles still wasn’t 100% and that it probably wouldn’t be fully healed for another three weeks. He said he would have pushed to play if the Jets were still alive for the postseason, but they were mathematically eliminated Sunday.
“There’s always a fear about re-rupture if you’re going too fast,” Rodgers said Tuesday. “But this allows me to — I’m not going to slow my rehab down. I’m going to keep attacking it every single day, but now, without a timetable to come back, obviously, we can be as smart as we need to be.”
Rodgers, team officials and doctors — his personal doctor and team doctors — discussed his status Tuesday. Saleh declined to comment on whether Rodgers was denied medical clearance to play. He said it was Rodgers’ decision.
“My instinct says if he was 100%, he’d probably be banging the door a little bit more,” Saleh said. “But like he said, he’s a couple weeks away, and so there’s always weighing the risks.”
Rodgers tore his Achilles on the fourth play of Week 1, sending the Jets into a tailspin. A season that began with Super Bowl dreams will end out of the playoffs for the 13th straight year — the longest active drought among the four major U.S. men’s sports leagues.
Siemian could be the fourth quarterback to start for the Jets this season, although Saleh refused to rule out Wilson, who took several hits against the Dolphins and was removed in the second quarter.
“We’ll see,” Saleh said. “Everything is improved, so I’m not closing the door on that.”
Wilson’s mother, Lisa Wilson, shared details about the concussion on social media. She said her son left the game “when he started having problems with blurred vision and his depth perception.” She said he had been experiencing symptoms throughout the game because of some “really, really big hits” but didn’t inform anyone on the sideline because he wanted to keep playing. He was evaluated and cleared early in the game by a neurologist, according to the CBS telecast.
Saleh said Wilson ultimately was removed by the independent neurologist at the game.
“Sometimes we don’t always catch it right, and that’s why we have the NFL spotters to spot things up top and all that stuff,” Saleh said. “But players do not want to come off the field, too, and you always encourage them to communicate.
“Credit to Zach; he will fight,” Saleh added. “That’s one thing I’ll say about that young man is he’s always gotten up. No matter how many hits he’s taken, how many times he’s running for his life, he’s always come back to the huddle. And so I have a great appreciation for him, but at the same time, thank goodness that it was spotted up top and we were able to get him the care he needs.”