Aaron Rodgers didn’t suggest that he was against the Jets using a cut block on the play that ended with his Achilles injury, which The Athletic reported this week.
Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari, a former teammate of Rodgers’, told The Athletic he had learned “you don’t cut unless Aaron says so in the huddle or at the line of scrimmage.”
“That was always the thing with Dave,” Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday, “because Dave didn’t really like cutting. He wasn’t great at it. But no, I like cutting.”
Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett also pushed back against Rodgers’ supposed dislike of cut blocks Thursday, saying that each play included in the game plan has been discussed “to the finest detail.”
If anyone should know of Rodgers’ preferences, Hackett would be high on the list, as the two have said to close friends after working together for three years in Green Bay from 2019 to 2021.
Rodgers, 39, got hurt in the Jets’ season opener on “Monday Night Football” against the Bills, tearing his Achilles on only his fourth snap with his new team.
In the play, Jets right tackle Mekhi Becton went to hit defensive end Gregory Rousseau’s legs, failing, and subsequently Rodgers was hit and tossed the pass away.
He underwent surgery on Wednesday, reporting on Instagram that all went well, and in his first video interview since the injury has no plans of slowing down.
“Give me the doubts,” Rodgers said. “Give me the timetables. Give me all the things that you think can, should or will happen, because all I need is that one little extra percent of inspiration. That’s all I need.
“Give me your doubts. Give me your prognostications. And then watch what I do.”
So much so that he didn’t rule out playoffs.
In the words of NBA star Kevin Garnett, Rodgers said, “anything’s possible.”
The odds are stacked heavily against Rodgers, as the recovery estimation ranges between 8-to-12 months.