Aaron Rodgers Addresses Conspiracy Theory He Didn't Actually Tear Achilles

Aaron Rodgers is notoriously willing to entertain conspiracy theories, so it can't come as much of a surprise for the New York Jets quarterback that his attempt to make an unprecedented return from a ruptured Achilles tendon has been greeted by some skepticism.

Some observers have gone as far as to wonder whether Rodgers, who seems to be making great progress, faked or exaggerated the extent of his injury. But in his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, Rodgers was asked directly about the speculation, and he denied it in concrete terms.

"It was ruptured," Rodgers said. "It was fixed by the best doctor in the land, and my entire focus from September 13 has been rehab and getting back on the field."

In addition, Rodgers couldn't help but take a shot at people who mock him for his distrust of COVID-19 vaccinations.

"The same people talking about that, entertaining the possibility of conspiracy about my Achilles, could not possibly fathom a world in which anything related to this beautiful experimental gene therapy could have any issues," he said. "Fascinating. Fascinating."

Rodgers, 39, pointed out that his situation is different from that of many other athletes who suffer a similar injury. Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson tore his Achilles in November 2020 and didn't return for more than a year. At his age, Rodgers doesn't feel he has the same time available to him.

"Let me just shoot you straight," Rodgers told McAfee. "There's not a lot of people that have the unique situation that I was in. I got hurt first drive of the season. Don't want to retire, I want to come back. I have the best doctors in the country. My full-time job is rehab. My mindset from the morning after the injury, before I even got surgery, was I'm going to try to do something that nobody has done before. So I poured my entire energy and research into this."

Rodgers spoke with a number of athletes who tore their Achilles, and he felt as if he was on a different timetable.

"They were thinking, Listen, we're going to get this thing back and get back to competition but not in a rush," Rodgers said. "And I feel like, I want to get back. So I'm more rushed. My time is nearing the end."

One complicating factor: Presumably, Rodgers wouldn't bother with a return if the Jets were out of the playoff picture. They are flailing a bit after losing to the Las Vegas Raiders this week. After an encouraging start to the year, they have lost two in a row and are now below .500 at 4-5, two games behind the Houston Texans for the final wildcard slot in the postseason.

They face a desperate Buffalo Bills team this Sunday after the Bills dropped a tough loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday, and four of the Jets' seven games are against the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns and Texans, all of whom would make the playoffs if the season ended November 15.

Rodgers said the Jets' offense needs to be better.

"There's a lot of geniuses out there with ideas about how to fix the whole thing, but in actuality it's very simple," he said. "If you watch the film, you can see where the issues lie. There's plays to be made, there's opportunities that are out there, and we're just not getting it done."

Rodgers admitted that he has seen the criticism of Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, but he was cagey about who is to blame for the team's struggles on that side of the ball.

"I won MVP twice in this same offense," Rodgers said. "I'm a believer in the offense, and there's a lot of positions that have to play better. But it's easy right now to throw it at the usual suspects, [quarterback] Zach [Wilson] and Nathaniel, but there's a lot of positions that need to play better."