When Aaron Rodgers, without the aid of crutches, was spotted on the MetLife Stadium field having a football toss a couple hours before the Jets game against the Eagles Sunday, Jets fans instantly became breathless.
The sight of the Jets quarterback, who ruptured his left Achilles tendon four plays into the season opener on Sept. 11 and had surgery to repair it two days later, coupled with Rodgers’ very public assertions that he plans to defy the medical odds and return to play this season, fueled speculation that he’s a lot closer to returning than anyone imagined.
“We’re going to save a spot for him,’’ Jets head coach Robert Saleh said on Tuesday, two days after calling Rodgers a “freakazoid’’ after seeing his pregame toss at the stadium.
Based on conversations The Post conducted Tuesday with four prominent orthopedic surgeons in the New York area about Rodgers’ plan to return by Week 14 or 15, however, the consensus message was rather simple.
Tap the brakes.
None of the four doctors discouraged or disparaged Rodgers’ goal to play again in ’23, but they all believe that the risk to push the tendon too soon is too great.
“I’m not aware of anything that would get an athlete back in 14 weeks to play professional sports,’’ Dr. John Kennedy, the professor of orthopedic surgery and chief of the foot and ankle division at NYU Langone, said. “That would be an exceptional recovery. Professional athletes are exceptional human beings who do things the rest of us can’t do, and maybe he will. And if he does then we’re all wrong and it’ll be fantastic for the Jets and for Aaron.
“But if it all goes horribly wrong, that would be the risk that most of us [doctors] would say he would take if he came back in that kind of accelerated time, 14 weeks. That’s a very, very short time.’’
The Jets play at Miami in Week 14, on Dec. 17. That would be 14 weeks removed from the injury. They play Washington at home in Week 15, on Dec. 24, and then at Cleveland on Thursday night, Dec. 28 in their second-to-last game.
Dr. Peter DeLuca, the chief of chief of sports medicine at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, N.J., believes where the Jets are in the standings will dictate whether Rodgers does or doesn’t come back to play this season.
“I’m sure he’s not going to come back if there’s no chance the Jets are going to get to the playoffs,’’ DeLuca said. “If they’re not going to make the playoffs and they’re out of it, then the decision’s easy and he won’t come back. I feel like he’ll only come back if they have solidified a spot in the playoffs. Then I think for him the reward would be greater than the risk.’’
Rodgers, on his weekly paid appearance on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show’’ Tuesday, said he’s “way ahead of schedule,’’ further fueling the fire about a return this season.
Rodgers called the Sept. 13 surgery performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache “newer” and “innovative,” presumably referring to the “speed bridge’’ procedure that’s now often used for ruptured Achilles injuries.
DeLuca said the speed bridge procedure, which uses a stronger suture material that’s stitched to the bone, “Speeds up the rehab, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it speeds up the return to play.’’
All of the doctors with whom The Post spoke expressed concern of a re-tear of the Achilles if Rodgers returns to play too quickly.
“Even though [the speed bridge] is a newer technique and may enhance the recovery, there’s still that time it takes for the tendon to heal, and I would think you’d have to cautious for sending him back [to play] too early, because you don’t want to re-tear,’’ said Dr. Spencer Stein, the assistant professor of orthopedic surgery in the division of sports medicine at NYU Langone.
Stein, who worked under ElAttrache, called Rodgers returning later this season “a big ask,‘’ adding, “Most athletes you see coming back from this do take about a year, depending on the position. Sometimes, you do see them come back a little quicker. Six months is the earliest I’ve seen.‘’
Dr. Stephen Nicholas, the former Jets orthopedist who performed Vinny Testaverde’s Achilles surgery in 1999 and now is the director of the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital, said, “Can he play again in four months? It’s possible, but not likely. We’re not just talking about a guy who’s just coming back and throwing. Coming back [too soon], you’re going to put that thing under stress. My concern would be more the impact of contact and specific positions he’s going to put himself in.’’
Kennedy said, when he heard of Rodgers’ plan to come back Week 14, he immediately had concerns of him re-rupturing it.
“Then it’s a much bigger problem, because now you’re dealing with comprised biology in the area, poorer healing potential and it would be much more difficult for him to recover from that,’’ Kennedy said. “One of the things I’ve learned from treating professional athletes is that you never say ‘never.’ It would be exceptional in every sense of the word for a player to get back before this season [ends]. He probably would do better if he was to condition this in the offseason.
“Maybe he will come back that quickly, and if he does, I’ll be happy to eat crow. But I would be really worried about coming back in Week 14. That would be a huge risk, and why would he want to risk it?’’
Kennedy referred to biology and data, two things that cannot be dismissed.
“Even given all the state-of-the-art ability [Rodgers] has in terms of rehab, to push this too fast, you can only push biology so far and then it starts to push back,’’ he said. “Biology is still biology, and with the greatest will in the world you can push it too far. If you push it too far, it will push back. And when it pushes back, it’s usually not something small.’’
Kennedy also recited significant and rather sobering data involved in cases like this one.
“We have data from NBA and NFL studies that 30 to 50 percent of professional athletes in the NBA and NFL never return after rupturing an Achilles,’’ he said. “Then, with those that do, most of their player ratings drop.’’
So, Kennedy added, “What are you thinking coming back too soon? That would make no sense. If it was you or me, I’d say a year [recovery]. If it’s a professional athlete, I’d say five or six months. But three months? Gosh. Who knows?’’