Video of Aaron Rodgers Hobbling Around the Practice Field is a Harbinger of Doom for the Jets. Again.

Michael Owens. Getty Images.

If it had happened on any other date or in any other city than September 11th in New York, I'd be calling last year's Week 1 Monday Night Jets game "a date which will live in infamy." But however you phrase it, it's still a night Jets fans will not soon forget. Try as they might.

Most seasons for this franchise, it takes weeks or even months for all their hopes and dreams to be shattered. Last year, it took five snaps. Four by the Jets offense. One by Aaron Rodgers left Achilles tendon. And the vessel into which they poured all their optimism was dumped out all over the MetLife turf. Or better yet, carted off the field and never to be seen again. 

Until now. Until OTAs. When presumably hope would spring eternal and a 40 year old Rodgers would look like the franchise quarterback they'd signed in 2023. And once again, the most downtrodden fanbase in all the world would have something to believe in once more. 

But of all the New York Jets in the world, they remain the New York Jetsiest:

Now, it's possible there's a simple, harmless explanation for why Rodgers sat on a trailer, took off his cleat, and started inspecting his heel. His right heel, I hasten to add. Which is not the one he tore last year. Or why he was seeming to hop around gingerly, favoring that leg. Or why he's wearing high tops like he's Sid Luckman during the War years. 

But if you're putting your hopes in a benign reason for all of this, you're obviously new to this whole Jets fan thing. I mean, just listen to these guys freak out at what they're witnessing:

"Foot issues"? Blisters? Shoes that are too tight? Band-Aids? "The season just went right down the tubes"? Grabbing extremities? "Maybe he's putting too much pressure on his other leg"? At 40 years old it takes you longer to get loose? 

It would take a heart of stone not to laugh. 

And to be clear, I understand that as a Patriots fan, I'm in no position to be mocking anybody else's quarterback situation. I've invested way too much emotional capital in the fool's gold that was Mac Jones, Cam Newton, even, I'm embarrassed to admit, Jarrett Stidham. It's not my place at the moment to be mentioning how my franchise quarterback of the future was putting balls right in the bucket at OTAs:

As well as moving like a man half of Rodgers age, because he is. And showing off the no-look pass skills I didn't even realize he has:

And already being the leader we hoped he'd be:

But I digress. This isn't about the hopes for a brilliantly bright future in New England with Maye under center. This is all about the very real possibility of a grim present in New York. One that would perfectly match their past. The recent past as well as the distant. The guy they've pinned their whole future on is moving around about as well as a 3rd party Vice Presidential candidate, which he probably should be right now. Sad. But Jets fans ought to get used to it one of these years.