Jets QB Aaron Rodgers was 'heartbroken,' thought career might be over after tearing Achilles

Aaron Rodgers was scared at the possible severity of his injury when he tore his Achilles on the New York Jets' first offensive drive of the 2023 season.

In an appearance on the "I Can Fly" podcast on Monday, the four-time MVP spoke on his initial feelings after his debut with his new team was shattered. Last offseason, he joined the Jets in a blockbuster trade with the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him nearly 20 years ago. New York was featured on "Hard Knocks" as the anticipation for Rodgers to resurrect the Jets built.

"I was heartbroken on September 11th in the locker room thinking my career might be over and that's how I'm gonna go out," the quarterback said. "One of the highest highs in my sporting career, running on the field on 9/11 with an American flag, which I had never done in my life. After all the beauty, the summer and 'Hard Knocks' and a new team and just being in New Jersey and the excitement, talking to their amazing fanbase and just feeling just the energy and the momentum building and then that."

The Jets finished the season 7-10 with Zach Wilson mostly filling in behind center. It was New York's eighth straight season with a losing record. The Jets haven't qualified for the playoffs since 2010, the longest postseason drought in the league.

Even though he didn't return to the gridiron to try to help his new team in 2023, Rodgers recovered with unprecedented speed. He said that he gained much more than his health back on the journey.

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"I look back now and so much changed in my life for the better. I often have a hard time with people who say, 'Everything happens for a reason,'" he said. "... Part of it is the ego wanting things to just be a little bit easier sometimes. ... So much changed in my life in the last six months that would not have happened had I not been carted off that field. But only in that has all this beauty been able to happen. How can I not be grateful?"