Aaron Rodgers eyes December 6 return to practice

Even with his team at 4-6, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers still has plans to return to the field this season from his Week 1 Achilles injury. He even has a target date that he shared during his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show Tuesday.

Rodgers suggested a potential return to the practice field on December 6. That’s in just two weeks. That would give him three weeks of practice before a potential return to game action on December 24 against the Washington Commanders, a date many have speculated for some time now would be his grand return to the Jets.

“I’ve said that I’d love to be trending towards practicing by my birthday,” Rodgers told McAfee. Rodgers’ 40th birthday is December 2. Opening Rodgers’ 21-day practice window on the 6th would give the Jets until the 27th to activate him from injured reserve, meaning a return on Christmas Eve would be in the cards.

One caveat to Rodgers’ return has always been, in Rodgers’ words, that the Jets have to be in the playoff mix for him to consider an early return. The Jets fell to 4-6 after their 32-6 loss Sunday to the Buffalo Bills. New York now sits two games out of a playoff spot with seven games to play. The Jets split with the Bills and have head-to-head losses to the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders, two teams above the Jets in the AFC standings, where New York sits 14th.

Rodgers insists the Jets are still very much alive. The four-time MVP compared this season to that of the 2016 Green Bay Packers and the 2009 New York Jets, both of whom also started 4-6 before making a run to the Conference Championship Game. ESPN currently gives the Jets a 1% chance of reaching the postseason.

Nonetheless, Rodgers has been continuing to train for a return, including running on an anti-gravity treadmill. He’s pushing as if he’s going to play again this season after going down just four snaps into his Jets debut against the Bills on September 11.

With the Dolphins coming to town in Week 12, a loss would drop the Jets to 4-7 and further diminish Rodgers’ chances of playing. Friday is almost a must-win for both their slim playoff hopes as well as their hopes to see No. 8 again in 2023.