As ESPN’s Monday Night Football took the air for its regular-season debut, excitement was abound as the time for speculation concluded with Aaron Rodgers debut as the quarterback for the New York Jets. The game took place in prime-time 22 years after the devastating September 11 attacks, and the team held a moment of silence and a special performance of the National Anthem to mark the somber occasion. During the team’s player introductions, the stadium had a viridescent hue with flashing lights and fireworks as Jets players ran out holding American flags and wearing hats emblazoned with the logos of New York City’s emergency response divisions.
When Rodgers emerged from the tunnel and ran onto the field, the crowd at MetLife Stadium cheered and eagerly anticipated his opening snap with the team’s young, dynamic offense. Four plays later, he was being helped off of the field by trainers and suffering a season-ending complete tear of his left Achilles tendon. The injury put a damper on what was an enthralling football game that ended in a dramatic Jets win, but still made for a captivating product for viewers all around the world.
“No matter what you think of Aaron Rodgers, it was kind of must-see TV,” Mike Stone said Tuesday on 97.1 The Ticket in Detroit, Mich. “The place was fricking electric.”
Jon Jansen, who co-hosts the morning drive program with Stone, ruptured his left Achilles during the Detroit Lions’ preseason opener in 2004 and ended up missing the entire season. Having the perspective of someone who has endured such an injury before, he understands that it will be a protracted recovery once Rodgers undergoes the surgery. Jets fans around the country are heartbroken with the situation and the far-reaching effects this will have on the remainder of the season.
For national media networks who poured their resources into covering Rodgers and the Jets, there is a chance that some difficult decisions may need to be made down the stretch. The Jets are televised in prime time for five more games throughout the 2023 regular season and are now without their headline star in Rodgers. According to the National Football League’s flexible scheduling guidelines, only two of those games have the potential to be changed out – the Week 10 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football; and the Week 17 game against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. All other matchups throughout the regular season, outside of Week 18, are set in place as currently constructed.
“You just lose the story for the year,” producer Greg Hargrave said. “They’ve got all these prime-time games.”
The next time the Jets are scheduled to be in prime time will be on Sunday Night Football on October 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs from MetLife Stadium. The team was also the focus of the HBO Sports and NFL Films all-access series, Hard Knocks, and was being marketed around the acquisition of Rodgers. Many football fans were regaling the four-time most valuable player as a savior for “Gang Green” in its efforts to snap a 12-year playoff drought.
