Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling played alongside New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers when both were with the Green Bay Packers from 2018 through 2021.
Those experiences helped prepare Valdes-Scantling for the fact that Rodgers may try to play again this season after he suffered a torn Achilles on Sept. 11.
“No, I’m not surprised at all,” Valdes-Scantling said during a chat with Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports about Rodgers’ intentions to return to the lineup before next summer. “When you know Aaron, that’s just who he is. He is a competitor, especially if he gets into a situation where he can prove someone wrong, he will live and die by it.”
Rodgers acknowledged during a Tuesday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he’s not yet at a jogging stage of his recovery, but the veteran who turns 40 years old early next month seemed to move well on both feet as he practiced drop-backs and tossed some passes at MetLife Stadium this past Sunday.
Both Jets general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh declined to guarantee Rodgers will play if New York makes the playoffs. Meanwhile, Valdes-Scantling suggested the future Hall of Famer is fueled by a desire to silence doubters.
“Him going down the way that he did the first game of the season was heartbreaking,” Valdes-Scantling added. “But I know that it just gave him way more motivation, and that’s why you see him doing so much right now and even potentially coming back this year or early next year.”
Rodgers admitted Tuesday the Jets need to be “alive” in the playoff picture when he’s medically cleared to keep the idea of playing this season on the table, and it’s been rumored he could start as soon as Week 15 on Dec. 17 or Week 16 on Christmas Eve. If the 4-3 Jets split their next six games, they should still have a chance of qualifying for the postseason tournament when they play at the Miami Dolphins in Week 15.
On Thursday evening, OddsChecker listed New York as a 3.5-point underdog for the upcoming “Monday Night Football” home game against the 3-4 Los Angeles Chargers.
