Imagine the worst possible scenario to start an NFL football season, and then multiply it by 100 times. That’s what happened to the New York Jets last night.
Everyone that tuned in to the Monday Night Football broadcast last night was shocked to see Aaron Rodgers go down with an injury just four plays into his Jets tenure. Viewers knew things weren’t good just by looking at Rodgers’ face right after it happened, and the horrible news of his achilles tear was confirmed earlier this morning.
Even though “Gang Green” pulled out a win over the Buffalo Bills last night in overtime, it definitely feels like the wind has been taken out of the sails of Jets’ season. The offseason hype for Rodgers joining a team that was described as “a quarterback away” last year was unparalleled, and it was all really over before things even got started.
The thudding finality of the injury, and the shocking time of it, had every NFL fan in disbelief. Robert Saleh’s face (head coach of the Jets) really said it all last night:
And though the Jets miraculously kept it together and went on to win the game, it is being reported that much of the Jets’ coaching staff lost sleep following last night’s events.
On Good Morning Football, Peter Schrager told the show that he had been in touch with a good amount of the Jets coaching staff and had been texting them through the night and into this morning:
“You mentioned sleepless nights, I’ve been texting with three different Jets coaches, they haven’t slept…
It’s 7:05 (in the morning), and they probably got home at 3 a.m. Three different coaches, different facets of the game, just talking about what happened last night for the last several hours. They haven’t slept.
(They’re) excited about the win, but devastated. Devastated not only for the fans, but for Rodgers. This guy was so invested all summer, and has been a coach for the team and has put everybody under his wing. The ideal veteran leader, and like that (snaps fingers), it’s gone.”
The Jets probably feel the way a lot of fans feel this morning: upset more than anything that we all at least didn’t even get to see what the New York team could look like with Rodgers at the helm. Four snaps is all he played, and he never even completed a pass in those plays.
Now the speculation turns to whether this season-ending injury could be a career-ending one as well, and I’m sure all football fans can agree that it would be pretty brutal to see one of the game’s best ever quarterbacks go out like this.
