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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Charlie Wilson

Aaron Rodgers injury scare instantly hands Zach Wilson New York Jets opportunity

The New York Jets have been given an injury scare over their new franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

In the team's second day of OTA's, Rodgers first warmed up with the team before not being included in quarterback drills with back-up Zach Wilson, as well as Chris Streveler and Tim Boyle.

Instead of joining the quarterbacks, Rodgers walked over to the trainers before getting his lower leg looked at with what looked to be ankle injury. Images were shared of Rodgers appearing to favour one ankle and appearing to have an injury, although it was not deemed sufficient enough for him to head inside for treatment.

Instead, he walked over to where quarterback drills were taking place but did not take part. His absence handed Zach Wilson and instant opportunity to impress in first-team reps after being replaced as the starter by Rodgers.

But whilst coaching staff talked up Wilson's attitude to Rodgers' arrival, the Jets will hope that it's just a minor injury. Rodgers appeared fine in videos shared across social media on Tuesday, as he ran in a touchdown in practice and got some reps.

Even if it isn't too serious, it will be a blow for him to not be able to link up with his new receivers - having limited opportunities to do so in the off-season. NFL off-season rules mean that teams can only meet a certain amount of times before training camp begins in late July, before the pre-season in August.

Rodgers linked up with the offense in full for the first time on Monday, meeting with the likes of Garrett Wilson, Corey Davis, CJ Uzomah and Tyler Conklin.

Should he not be able to practice, those reps over the next few days will go to Zach Wilson - and you'd imagine it's unlikely the Jets or Rodgers will want to take any unnecessary risk with his fitness at this stage.

While it's unlikely that Wilson plays for the Jets this year, an impressive off-season could see him become a trade target for teams in need of a quarterback - including the Washington Commanders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons who are all without their franchise guy.

Wilson has struggled in his first two years after being the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, but showed that he's capable of high level play throughout his college career, while also having strong games for the Jets at times.

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