Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes left stunned as Aaron Rodgers suffers game-ending injury in Jets debut - "Holy cow!"
Remember when Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets were thought to be Super Bowl contenders? Unfortunaly, that projection may have taken a huge hit - quite literally.
During Monday's game against the defending AFC East champion Buffalo Bills, the one-time Super Bowl champion and four-time MVP was sacked by defensive end Leonard Floyd and left the game with an apparent leg injury:
During ESPN's live broadcast, head coach Robert Saleh told sideline reporter Lisa Salters:
“He’s dealing with an ankle right now, he’s getting checked out. “We’ll know more later. We still have a hell of a group of guys… we’ll get this thing done.”
Minutes later, the Jets confirmed that, despite a negative X-ray, Rodgers, who was later seen wearing a walking boot on his way to the locker room, would not be returning to the field, meaning that former starter and current backup Zach Wilson would complete the night:
The development stunned and saddened many in the NFL community, but most especially Patrick Mahomes and Peyton Manning. During his ManningCast, the Hall of Famer cried out:
"Holy cow! I cannot believe this."
Mahomes, meanwhile, sent his prayers to his newest AFC rival:
Since then, Gang Green has fallen behind 3-10 after a touchdown from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs, then an interception by Matt Milano:
Aaron Rodgers’ injury history with New York Jets
Skeptics will say they had seen Aaron Rodgers’ injury coming, as he had strained his calf during what he called “pre-practice conditioning” in May - causing him to miss OTA’s with the New York Jets. But at the time, he dismissed it as not “too serious”:
"I just tweaked my calf in a little pre-practice conditioning, so I decided to take a vet day."
Just over two months later, Rodgers got another scare when defensive end Jermaine Johnson stepped on his toe during a practice session. However, head coach Robert Saleh downplayed the severity of the incident, saying:
"We do it all the time. Stay off the quarterback. Respect the quarterback. Every player knows how important those quarterbacks are, but stay up, stay off them. It goes without saying, but you're always going to try to make it a point of emphasis."
No other update on Rodgers has emerged so far, but between this and the Giants' shutout loss against the Dallas Cowboys, Opening Week is apparently not the best time to be a football fan in New York.