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A conspiracy theory that Aaron Rodgers didn’t really tear his Achilles tendon has been making the rounds.
It was reinforced by some talk on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz this week.
It’s reasonable talk when you consider the fact that Rodgers is 39-years-old, it normally takes the an NFL player 9 to 12 months to recover, and just 54 days following the surgery to repair his Achilles he was on the field doing drop backs and launching the ball 55 yards in the air.
For example, after Kirk Cousins went down with a torn Achilles, it was reported that the Cleveland Clinic estimates that for the average person it takes about four to six months for a torn Achilles tendon to fully heal, longer for people who require performing high-impact activities like running and jumping.
Colin Cowherd has heard these rumors and he too has questions.
“What do you make… there’s so much misinformation out there. I saw a story today. And I’m not blaming anybody for this take,” Colin Cowherd told Logan Ryan on the show this week. “But the take was sort, maybe he didn’t rupture an Achilles.
“Now, I’m not… again, I don’t have a strong opinion on it. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor.
“I don’t know about vaccines. I took a vaccine during COVID. I’m not an epidemiologist. Right? Like…
“So I watched the Aaron thing and I’m like, ‘How is he healing so fast?'”
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“There has been a theory, Jason McIntyre, my co-host here, had made the theory that [Robert] Salah and the GM love Aaron being around the field and talking this way because it gives them hope. And the impulsive ownership will just feel like it’s hope. Don’t make changes.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Colin continued.
“But you played this game, if you ruptured your Achilles, there’s NO WAY, you’re a DB, but what do you just make of the whole circus of the injury and Aaron and on the field and the throwing and talk about coming back?
“How does it land for you?” Cowherd asked.
“I always thought the Achilles was the ‘kiss of death,” Ryan replied. “When older players get the Achilles, like, it’s over.”
Ryan then referenced Cam Akers, who came back from a torn Achilles just a few months later. (Just one problem there: Akers tore his Achilles during last Sunday’s game against the Falcons – the second time it’s happened to the 24-year-old running back.)
He also suggested that while he doesn’t think Aaron Rodgers will return during the regular season, if the Jets can sneak into the playoffs, he might come back and play then.