Aaron Rodgers Reveals Biggest Regret

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he regrets publicly claiming he was "immunized" against the COVID-19 virus in his upcoming unauthorized biography Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers .

Rodgers, 40, who previously admitted that the vaccine controversy affected his public image, told author Ian O'Connor that the statement represented "the crux of my appeal."

"If there's one thing I wish could have gone different, it's that, because that's the only thing [critics] could hit me with," Rodgers said in the book via ESPN .

Rodgers, then a member of the Green Bay Packers, tested positive for COVID-19 as an unvaccinated player, which forced him to be sidelined for a minimum of 10 days, in November 2021 after previously claiming he was "immunized" when asked about his vaccine status by reporters three months prior. The four-time NFL MVP later claimed that he was allergic to polyethylene glycol (PEG), an ingredient in the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and concerned about reported adverse medical reactions to the vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson, the pharmaceutical company founded by Jets owner Woody Johnson 's family.

"But if I could do it again, I would have said [in August], 'f--- the appeal. I'm just going to tell them I'm allergic to PEG, I'm not getting Johnson & Johnson, I'm not going to be vaxxed,'" Rodgers said in the soon-to-be-published book, claiming his statement represented his appeal to the NFL.

"I had an immunization card from my holistic doctor, which looked similar. I wasn't trying to pawn it off as a vaccine card, but I said, 'Listen, here's my protocol. Here's what you can follow to look this up.' And it was an ongoing appeal. So, if I had just said [I was unvaccinated] in the moment, there's no chance that the appeal would have been handled the exact same way," he added.

Rodgers was acquired by the Jets after last offseason after 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, but limited to just four snaps before suffering a season-ending Achilles injury in his Jets debut last September.

"I feel really good," Rodgers said of his injury status in May via NFL.com . "It's just about the mental part. These practices have been nice the last couple of days. Feel what it's like to be out there, to be moving around, to not be thinking about it and see how I respond the next day. This is the last part.

"The strength is good, the movement is good, just the confidence to do everything."