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I wasn’t there, but when I first saw the tweets saying Joe Douglas “expect(s) Aaron to be back” this season, it was kind of shocking to read.
Of course, it’s possible, but it doesn’t sound like anything Douglas would say. He’s very guarded with his words.
Why would he say such a thing when Rodgers is still limping at this point after September Achilles surgery?
But even if he wasn’t limping, why put that kind of pressure on the player? Achilles rehab is one of the toughest, and is usually six to eight months. January would be four months.
Not saying it can’t happen, but it would take a minor miracle, so why would Douglas say, “we expect Aaron back?”
Here are the question and answer in their full context:
Q: How do you feel about the possibility of him coming back this season?
Douglas: I am not going to put words into Aaron’s mouth, I mean we are obviously excited to see him progress through his rehab and look, we are taking everything day by day and certainly we will be excited when he is back in the fold just as a person and leader that he is, but I am not a doctor, so I can’t go into the specifics on the rehab, but yeah I mean we are expecting Aaron to be back.
That last line opened up a can of worms, and seemed to be misunderstood in some quarters.
There were several follow-up questions about that last line
Q: You said we are expecting him back, do you mean this year?
Douglas: With the team, with the team. I have no timeline on, again I am not an expert, I am not a doctor, I have no timeline to give you guys on him coming back, but it is just good having him around, when he’s out there pregame, when he is around the team, it’s just good having him in the building.
But if you are talking about him being back with the team, that is already going on, because he’s been around recently, and threw some in pregame warmups before games against the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants.
So this isn’t a matter of “expecting Aaron to be back” with the team. He’s already back with the team, but he’s nowhere near being ready to play.
Q: So you’re not saying you’re expecting him to play this year?
Douglas: No, I am not putting anything out there like that. Again, that’s not my place, I’m not a doctor, and I don’t have any breaking news for you like that.
So all those stories from this afternoon that went viral about Douglas saying he expects Rodgers back this season, were much ado about nothing.
Perhaps it was a clumsy way to end an answer, but anybody who knows Douglas, he would never say anything like he expects a player, six-seven weeks into Achilles rehab, to return in the same season. No way. it’s not how he rolls.
The initial stories, they didn’t pass the smell test, especially with how guarded Douglas is with the media.
But even if you aren’t guarded, I don’t even think a guy like Rex Ryan would say a guy six to seven weeks into Achilles rehab is expected back this season.
Some don’t think a January return is realistic.
“C’mon, c’mon, how’s this guy going to move around off an Achilles,” asked former NFL GM Mike Lombardi on VSIN. “Football at his level in January? Come on, please.”
I wouldn’t totally rule out a mid-January return for a Wild-card game, but it’s certainly a long shot.
But there is no way this is happening in the regular season.
November 1, 2023
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