Jets' Rodgers has low ankle sprain, 'fine' for MNF
Written by I Dig SportsJets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has a low ankle sprain but should be "fine" to play in New York's next game against the Buffalo Bills on "Monday Night Football," coach Robert Saleh said.
Rodgers was injured Sunday in the Jets' 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London after being sacked three times and hit 11 times.
Rodgers told reporters after the game that he thought he had a low ankle sprain, which Saleh confirmed Monday morning.
"All the preliminary stuff says he'll be fine," Saleh said.
Rodgers clutched his left leg after a big hit in the third quarter. But after a roughing the punter call, Rodgers immediately went back onto the field and drove the Jets to the Minnesota 14. They settled for Greg Zuerlein's 32-yard field goal to make it 17-10.
"They were trying to get me in the [medical] tent ... I said, 'Screw it, I'm going back out there,'" Rodgers said Sunday.
The Jets (2-3) dropped their second straight, as their offense started slowly to continue a season-long trend. This time, Rodgers' cadence wasn't the issue. (They had no pre-snap penalties.) The problem was the turnovers and the inconsistent pass protection.
Late in the game Rodgers drove the Jets into scoring territory, but he threw his third interception to seal the loss. It capped one of the worst games of his career -- a day in which he also became the ninth player in NFL history to reach the 60,000-yard passing milestone, joining a fraternity that consists of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Matt Ryan and Dan Marino.
The three interceptions tied a career high, something he has done only six times out of 236 games. His first interception was the costliest -- a 63-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel. Rodgers said he lost track of Van Ginkel on a blitz, and he wound up throwing the ball right to him.