After Aaron Rodgers injury, Jets' Super Bowl aspirations now rest in the hands of who they already have

EAST RUTHERFORD — There was need for an MRI. Not really. It was only going to confirm what the Jets already knew — what everyone knew. Aaron Rodgers’ season, and likely his career, ended Monday night on the turf of MetLife Stadium.

The look on the quarterback's face said it all, that eerie nod toward the sideline. Rodgers did return to his feet after failing to break from Leonard Floyd’s grasp, but only to sit back down a moment later. It’s an Achilles injury. It’s a bad Achilles injury. Few Rodgers’ age — 39 going on 40 — return from something so severe.

So now here the Jets stand, even after beating the Bills 22-16 on a miraculous Xavier Gipson walk-off, punt-return touchdown in overtime, trying to pick up the pieces of a Super Bowl season that now feels like it’s on life support.

“Next man up and we’ll keep rolling,” Robert Saleh said.

You can’t help but wonder what the Jets did to deserve this. The torturous games the Football Gods continue to play on this franchise never cease to reach new levels of cruelty. Last season they were the team without the quarterback, so this offseason they went out and got one. More important: They didn’t force him here. Rodgers wanted to be a Jet. He embraced their culture, this fan base.

He talked openly at his introductory news conference about their “lonely” Lombardi Trophy. Before the season he referenced how his days with the Jets have felt “like a dream.” He wanted to bring this team the success it had been starved for. He was ready to. This wasn’t the star the Jets paid to be a part of their team. He embodied everything they’d been looking for. He, almost by himself, changed this team’s culture.

Monday night was supposed to usher in that new era. The Jets, their fans, Rodgers himself were ready for it.

Then Floyd fought through Duane Brown’s cut block. New York’s hopes and dreams seemingly dashed after just four offensive snaps.

“It sucks,” Brown, dejected by his locker, said.

Saleh and his team deserve immense credit. Rodgers was the focal point of virtually every Jets storyline ever since his trade became official. Seldom is one player put above the team. That wasn’t entirely the case with Rodgers, but the Jets certainly treated him and acted as if he were royalty. A wholesale collapse after his injury was expected. Instead, the opposite.

Receiver Garrett Wilson said the Jets wanted to win this one for Rodgers after everything he’d meant to them in just a short time. The Jets stifled the AFC East champs three times. Josh Allen, an MVP candidate, threw three interceptions (all to safety Jordan Whitehead) and lost one fumble. Stefon Diggs caught 10 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, but not one other Bill had more than four catches or 32 receiving yards. The Jets had five sacks, led by Quinton Jefferson’s two.

The Bills, believed to be one of the league’s most explosive offenses, managed just 16 points. That’s it. The Jets in no way, shape or form lit things up on offense once Zach Wilson replaced Rodgers, but they didn’t lose the game. Breece Hall totaled 147 yards on just 11 touches. Wilson made a ridiculous three-yard touchdown grab.

Then, in overtime, it was Gipson, an undrafted rookie, who dazzled his way to the end zone after the defense forced a three-and-out.

Against all odds, the Jets won. A feel-good moment for a team in desperate need of just that.

“Proud of the group,” Saleh said. “But they didn’t show us anything we didn’t already know in the locker room.”

But Tuesday morning is now here. And with it, the setting in of reality.

The Jets didn’t have championship dreams — these were their justified expectations. They must now find a way to keep them alive without their most important player.

“We have to keep being us,” cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “We have to keep working, keep leading and we will get through it.”

A suitable Rodgers replacement isn’t walking through the door. Even the best free agent (Nick Foles, Carson Wentz, Colt McCoy) and trade options (Gardner Minshew, Jameis Winston) are underwhelming. While some have connections to Jets general manager Joe Douglas, none have played with coordinator Nathaniel Hackett before. To expect them to arrive, learn a brand-new offense, then save the Jets season is a pipe dream.

The Jets must find a way to make this work with what they have. And what they have is Zach Wilson. Saleh said he will be the team’s starter the rest of the way once Rodgers’ MRI confirms the worst.

Wilson finished 14 of 21 (66.7 percent) for 140 yards with the touchdown to Wilson and a bad interception to Matt Milano. There wasn’t much to love from his play, but off the field he does look like a different person. He’s better with his teammates and staff. He’s interacting better with those outside the building, too.

Monday night showed the Jets' defense is good enough to be the reason they win games. They just need a quarterback who won’t cost them those instead. There’s reason to believe Wilson can be that player.

The Jets need him to be that player.

“I’m a lot more prepared,” Wilson said of where he is now compared to his struggles last season. “I’ve got to be able to handle that efficiently.”

It’s still borderline unfathomable that this is now the Jets’ reality. It doesn’t seem fair. They’ve suffered enough, endured enough.

Can they still accomplish what they once believed they could? It’s possible. It just got an awfully lot harder.

What’s truly unexplainable is, why this had to happen again.