To start his press briefing with the Jets beat writers on Thursday, Aaron Rodgers was asked why he spent the last three months trying to beat the odds and return from an Achilles injury that often takes at least six months. Here is what he had to say in his opening answer:
“Do you know my history? It’s never been why try? It’s been why not. From September 12 on, my goal has been to come back to the practice field and try and play. Obviously, that was contingent on my health and the team being in a position to make a run. That is why I worked so hard for those 77 days., was to get out on the field, back with the guys.
“I love to compete. I wanted to be out there so badly and also to inspire people to attack the rehab a little differently. I don’t think there are many people who can do what I did because of the resources I had available to me, and the fact that it was my job from sun-down to sun-up. Doing rehab in the morning for four hours, plus going home and doing more rehab in the house, combining that with diet and other modalities to try to come back as quick as possible.
“It’s just not afforded to people and maybe some people don’t want to do that. A lot of people get the surgery and the year is over, like J.K. Dobbins, who I was rehabbing with [In California]. J.K. is thinking about next year. But I’m old. I didn’t feel like I had the luxury to think about next year. I wanted to come back this year and play.”
