Aaron Rodgers' 2023 season has come to an end. Now, Jets fans will be asking themselves two more key questions about the veteran quarterback.Will Rodgers play again, and, if so, when can he do that?Rodgers is dealing with the after-effects of a torn Achilles. That type of injury is hard for any NFL player to come back from, let alone a 39-year-old quarterback.As such, there's no guarantee that a return is in Rodgers' future. But if he does want to play again, he could be ready to do so by the start of the 2024 NFL season. The only question is whether he would be able to return to his top form by that point.MORE:Here's what to know about Rodgers' torn Achilles and exactly how long fans can expect it to keep him out of action.The Jets announced that Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles in their season-opening win over the Bills. The veteran quarterback was hurt on just his fourth snap of the game while trying to evade pre sure from Leonard Floyd.Floyd managed to tackle Rodgers and drag the quarterback down by his legs. The Jets starter got up briefly after the play but went back down to the ground before motioning to the sideline for medical attention.Aaron Rodgers was injured and helped off the field on the first Jets drive vs. the Bills. ESPN (@espn) Rodgers was then taken to the blue medical tent on the sideline and later rode Charles Haley Jersey the cart to the locker room to get X-rays. He was seen wearing a boot and the Jets quickly ruled him out after initially saying he was questionable to return.After the game, coach Robert Saleh told reporters that the team didn't expect good news about Rodgers' injury"The MRI is probably going to confirm what we think is going to happen, so prayers tonight," Saleh said. "But it's not good."The MRI did, in fact, reveal a torn Achilles, so Rodgers will mi s the rest of the season because of the injury.MORE:The average recovery time for an NFL player returning from a torn Achilles tends to be about 9-12 months. However, it often ends up being closer to an 11-month timeline, as a 2010 study published inoutlined.According to the study, it takes roughly four to six months for the player to get back to full activity after surgery. The extra recovery time is then Kyle Juszczyk Jersey utilized to strengthen the repaired tendon to get the player closer to full strength before their return to game action.That said, the study noted that players returning from Achilles tears tend to play in considerably fewer games the year following the injury. The 31 players surveyed in the study averaged 11.67 games in the season before the injury compared to 6.17 games after it.Additionally, 36 percent of the players a se sed in the study did not return to NFL action after suffering a torn Achilles. So, that study may paint a bleak picture for any player looking to return from an Achilles injury.Still, there are some positive examples of athletes returning from that injury faster than expected, with Cam Akers the most notable.The Rams running back was able to play in Week 18 of the 2021 NFL season just five and a half months after suffering a torn Achilles in preparation for the campaign. His rapid return was thanks, in part, to, which was designed to optimize recovery time.That said, it's worth noting that Akers recorded just 175 yards on 72 carries in Week 18 and the postseason upon his return. That 2.4 yards per carry average fell well below his career average of 4.0 and showcased that, despite his playing, he wasn't quite ready to be his old self back on the field.So, while a low-end timetable for return does exist, it is probably not one that many NFL players will be able to meet. And that's especially true for a player like Rodgers, who suffered a ruptured Achilles.MORE: In basic terms, a tear is a broad way to describe any sort of damage to the Achilles while a rupture is a specific type of injury.As described by , healthcare profe sionals used a three-tiered grading system to a se s the damage suffered in any injury to a muscle, tendon or ligament.A rupture is a Grade 3 injury the worst on the scale and constitutes a "complete tear." It is considered a "very traumatic injury" and says that it "almost always requires surgery in order to regain proper function"That makes it a difficult injury from which to recover.Any type of tear can cause patients i sues but a full rupture is much tougher to bounce back from in the long-term as a great deal of ti sue needs to be repaired. Ruptures are often a sociated with obvious deformities (such as a tendon rolling up) and an audible pop while tears are more subtle and may only be a sociated with pain.Meanwhile, a tear can encompa s Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 injuries, as each comes with a certain amount of tearing. Grade 1 is mild, Grade 2 is moderate and, as mentioned, Grade 3 is full.So, while a rupture is always a tear, a tear is not always a rupture. That's an important distinction when a se sing the potential that each player has in coming back from such a serious injury.Age is also a factor in a se sing each player's comeback, and that will be working against Rodgers in this instance.Rodgers is 39 years old and entered play on Monday as the oldest active player in the NFL. He will turn 40 in December, so any comeback from this type of serious injury to play quarterback in the NFL again Reuben Foster Jersey would be unprecedented.MORE: Rodgers hasn't yet addre sed his playing future yet. He is under contract with the Jets through the 2025 season, but it isn't yet clear whether he will be able to recover enough from this Achilles tear to play in the NFL again.So, with that said, it is certainly po sible that Rodgers could elect to call it quits. After all, we know that he was contemplating retirement while on his darkne s retreat during the 2023 offseason.But if Rodgers is hell-bent on getting another chance to play for the Jets, he could try to be ready to start again in Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season.That said, if Rodgers is looking for an example of a quarterback who played after a late-career Achilles injury, he need look no further than Baltimore Colts legendJohnny Unitas. The Hall of Fame quarterback had surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon in his right foot after suffering the injury playing paddle tennis at the Towson YMCA in April of 1971, per .The extent of Unitas' injury was not clarified, but the quarterback was able to start five games during the 1971 season, posting a record of 3-2. He did, however, complete just 52 Trent Williams Jersey .3 recent of his pa ses for 942 yards, three touchdowns and nine interceptions.Still, Unitas went on to play through his age-40 season in 1973. And while his post-injury numbers weren't as good as his numbers in the three years before his injury (per 17 games), he still was able to get on the field in a depth role with the Colts and Chargers.Stat3 seasons before injury3 seasons after injuryComp. %52.252.3Pa sing yards2,4941,650Pa s TDs157INTs2214Yards/attempt6.96.2Rating62.357.1Unitas' numbers may look ugly, but he still provides Rodgers with an example to follow should he desire to return to the field. And Unitas was also a product of an NFL that had much lower standards for quarterbacks, so that's part of the reason his numbers were rocky. He was allowed to take more risks.Of course, Unitas' injury occurred over 50 years ago. Since then, modern medicine has made advances in how it treats Achilles injuries to reduce that recovery timeline, even for ruptures.Below are some other notable NFL players who suffered Achilles injuries more recently and went on to become succe s stories.Demaryius ThomasThomas represents one of the most optimistic cases of a torn Achilles recovery for Rodgers and the Jets.The late former Broncos star tore his Achilles in February of 2011, and it seemed likely he would mi s the 2011 season. Instead, Thomas was able to play 11 games, and he racked up 32 catches, 551 yards and four touchdowns while serving as one of Denver's top wide receivers.In 2012, Thomas broke out, catching 94 pa ses for 1,434 yards and 10 touchdowns while developing into Denver's No. 1 receiver. That began a string of five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons during which he made four Pro Bowls and was twice named an All-Pro second-teamer.During that time, he showed no ill effects from the Achilles injury.Terrell SuggsSuggs is another optimistic case. He tore his Achilles during the 2012 offseason but was able to get on the field for eight games during the regular season. He had just two sacks in those contests but added two more during Baltimore's Super Bowl run.Suggs followed up that season with a 10-sack campaign and logged 54.5 total after tearing his Achilles. He was 29 at the time of his injury, so he proved that some of the NFL's more veteran players could still come back and be productive after the injury, even if not right away.Cam AkersAs mentioned earlier, Akers set the standard for torn Achilles recovery, returning to play for the Rams just five and a half months after suffering the injury during July training camp. He handled 72 carries for Los Angeles over four games during its Super Bowl 56 run.MORE:And while Akers may not have been himself during that time, he was able to run for 786 yards and seven touchdowns on 188 carries in 2022. That 4.2 yards per carry average was the second-best of his career Richard Sherman Jersey after his rookie season.Of course, for every one of these succe s stories, there are stories of players who have failed. In particular, running backs have had trouble coming back from the injury, so that makes all the more concerning for the Ravens.So, while there is a glimmer of hope for Jets fans that Rodgers could return in 2024, it's hard to imagine that he will be the player he once was even if he does suit up for his age-40 season.