Aaron Rodgers has revealed he's banged up following the New York Jets ' defeat to the Minnesota Vikings in London - but the four-time NFL MVP showed his true mentality when overcoming a third-quarter injury scare .
Individually, Rodgers had an afternoon to forget, as the Vikings moved to 5-0 with a 23-17 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium . In the first quarter, he threw two picks - a career-first for the 40-year-old. Andrew van Ginkel's touchdown from the Vikings defense was also only Rodgers' career-fifth pick-six. The second half was much for Rodgers and Co. as they outscored Minnesota 10-6.
However, it took Rodgers overcoming a third-quarter injury scare before nearly guiding the Jets to an epic comeback, which was ended by the quarterback throwing a late interception - his third of the game. Rodgers went down in the second half after taking a hit to his left leg.
The future NFL Hall of Famer got up gingerly from the turf and hobbled over to the sideline. Rodgers was going to be taken to the blue tent for an evaluation - but he refused, persevered, and played on.
"I'm definitely banged up," Rodgers revealed in his post-match press conference. "I got my foot caught on the pile there. You know, it just seems to be a low ankle sprain. They were trying to get me in the tent, and we had a rough in the kicker, and I said 'Screw it, I'm going back out there.'"
The Jets are now 2-3 in 2024 following Sunday's defeat. Despite the rocky start, Rodgers has told his teammates to stick together, shut out the outside noise, and put together a run this season. "The take with us is, if we stick together," Rodgers said. "Because there'll be a lot of people outside the building who won't be sticking with the Jets. So, if we stick together, I still have a lot of confidence in this team.
"I think it's a team that's going to make a run. And whether that run starts next week, the following week, or whenever it might be, I'm confident in our guys, I'm confident in [the] leadership, and I'm confident we'll get this thing straight."
Rodgers is his own biggest critic - and his performance against Minnesota was well below his standard. However, some slack can be cut for the quarterback, who is just five games back into his return from a season-ending Achilles injury last year.
"You just got to be honest with your performance every single week and hold yourself to a standard," Rodgers admitted. "Obviously, that was below my standard. I just found that I've never thrown two picks in the first quarter before, so that's the first.
"One of us cost obviously seven and the other, you know, could cost three. So in a game where you lose by six, you know, plays like that are exponentially highlighted."
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