In the NFL world, it appears that New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a self-proclaimed expert on tearing your achilles.
The former Super Bowl winning QB tore his achilles just four plays into his tenure with the Jets, and though it was devastating, “Gang Green” seems to be keeping their head above water, and there are even rumors Rodgers could miraculously return this season.
Generally, an achilles tear has been a season-ending injury, but Rodgers seems to be challenging that normal timeline, and is doing stuff like this less than two months later:
And while Aaron might be on the track to return, another high-level quarterback just suffered the same injury Rodgers did this past weekend, and is undoubtedly done for the year.
Minnesota Vikings QB (and star of Netflix’s first season of Quarterback) Kirk Cousins tore his achilles in a game this past weekend against the Green Bay Packers, and is officially out for the year.
As a Vikings fan myself, the loss is devastating, especially considering that Minnesota started out 1-4, and had righted the ship and fought back to a record of 4-4 when the team lost their starting quarterback.
When Rodgers found out that Cousins had suffered the same injury as he did, he reached out to try and provide some comfort and advice to his fellow NFL quarterback. Aaron stated on The Pat McAfee Show earlier today:
“I really like Kirk and I’ve competed against him over the years and I have a lot of respect for him. It was good to talk to him. Hopefully I encouraged him a little bit. It definitely sucks.
He was playing really, really well, especially what a crazy situation, everybody’s trying to write him off and saying everybody’s gonna get traded there and blow that thing up.
And then they win a few in a row and then they said, ‘Oh, now they’re a playoff team’ and Kirk’s obviously playing excellent.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself Aaron…
After speaking about how much he respected Kirk, Rodgers then got into some of the details that he shared with the Minnesota QB about surgery, and the rehab process:
“So, disappointed for him and that injury, but passed along all the information I could and let him know what’s been working for me…
Because the rehab has been great, because I feel so good, obviously people have been interested in what I’m doing. I’ve just been passing along what’s been working for me. Obviously I’m a big believer in Dr. (Neil) ElAttrache.”
Dr. ElAttrache is the doctor that performed the surgery on Rodgers achilles tendon, and the rehab facility that is associated with him is out in Los Angeles, which requires those rehabbing to spend time out on the west coast, as Aaron explained:
“That’s the direction I’d probably point anybody to go but it just depends on what they’re willing to do and how much freedom they have to get out West.
But definitely the type of surgery I did. I think it’s going to be way more mainstream moving forward. It’s not for everybody. It’s not for every body type.”
Cousins won’t be in a rush to get back necessarily like Aaron has been, so only time will tell if Kirk will go the Rodgers route and listen to his advice.
Considering some of the videos we’ve seen of Rodgers not even two months after his surgery, I don’t see why Cousins wouldn’t opt in to the same strategy.
