The joy that the New York Jets long-suffering fans felt on hearing that bona fide NFL legend Aaron Rodgers was heading to the MetLife Stadium was as palpable as it was understandable. It gave the team’s supporters hope of ending a nightmare run of form, but what happened next must have felt like a crushing blow to all concerned.

The four-time NFL MVP suffered an injury on just his fourth snap and has not played since.

And this led to his replacement, Zach Wilson, being forced into the limelight, and things have not panned out so well. Jets fans will have been excited by Rodgers’s arrival, so much so that they may well have felt like placing a bet on New York to make a concerted impact this season, perhaps even reaching the postseason and maybe deep into it.

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Wilson initially impressed when replacing Rodgers, but a run of poor form led to him being benched and replaced by Tim Boyle and that has left the veteran legend feeling a certain sense of guilt.

Aaron Rodgers was, of course, supposed to be the beacon of hope for the Jets, but his long-running injury layoff then led that hope to be placed on Wilson’s shoulders, and that’s a lot of pressure. Remember, it’s 12 seasons since the Jets made it to the postseason, a run that looks likely to continue.

On the decision to use Boyle, Rodgers commented;

"We need a spark, and obviously this was the decision that was made,"

"I feel for Zach. I love Zach. Zach's such a great kid, and I do think he still has a bright future in the league. This has been a tough go for all of us. A lot of times in these situations, there's certain guys that have got to be the scapegoat. I think there's enough blame to go around a number of different positions. If you have 10 guys doing it right on a play and one guy not, it's hard to be efficient."

The Jets have now lost four on the bounce, with their latest defeat, a 13-34 home defeat to the Miami Dolphins, leaving Robert Saleh’s side at 4-7 and seemingly out of the running to make anything tangible out of this season.

A couple of weeks ago, before recent defeats, many Jets fans and pundits were talking up a possible Rodgers return to aid their playoff push. That seems less relevant now, but the former Super Bowl winner still wants to get back on the field of play as soon as possible.

His recovery from an Achilles injury has been fairly speedy, and Rodgers has set his own goals in terms of a return, stating,

"I've said that I'd love to be trending towards practicing by my birthday," Rodgers said, and for the record, the quarterback turns 40 on December 2nd.

On whether his desire to return has been diminished by what might prove a somewhat irrelevant series of games, Rodgers was emphatic,

"No, not at all,"

"I find those two are mutually exclusive. The speed at which I'm doing the rehab has been the same from the beginning -- push it as hard as we can every single day."

On whether he’s been in contact with Jets’ staff on his progress from his Los Angeles rehab facility, Rodgers added,

"Yeah, I like to keep in touch with the guys and let them know what my progress is,"

"I just sent a couple of the boys a video of me on the treadmill. They're interested in my rehab and where I'm at."