Aaron Rodgers hints he could still return before the end of the season as the quarterback claims the Jets aren't 'mathematically out' of the playoff race yet, despite losing five in a row

Aaron Rodgers has hinted the he could still return before the end of the season, as the quarterback claims the Jets (4-8) aren't 'mathematically out' of the playoff race just yet, despite losing five games in a row. 

The 39-year-old, one-time Super Bowl champion, who's eyeing to come back this month from a torn Achilles injury sustained in September, admitted to Pat McAfee that the Jets have gone through a 'tough stretch', but the run of games against the Texans, Commanders, Browns and Patriots, will be 'fascinating'. The Jets hold the longest postseason drought in U.S. sports history - 13 seasons (2010).

'It'll be interesting to see how our guys respond because we've had adversity, we've seen how our guys deal with adversity,' Rodgers added on ESPN. 'Who's going to finish the season as a professional? Who's going to buy into this thing, and doing it together and putting good ball on tape and take pride in their performance?'

'Because I've been on a couple of teams where down the stretch it's been rough. My first year in the league we were 4-12 and my first year starting we lost five out of six down the stretch.'

Rodgers - a four-time NFL MVP, who's played in the league for the last 19 seasons - then warned his teammates about the consequences of ending the season with an overall negative record, while also issuing a rallying to them. 

'I believed after we were 5-5,' said Rodgers. 'So, I've seen what it looks like at times when things are going not great and it really reveals the character in those adverse moments. So it'll be interesting to see how the guys stick together because there'll be a lot of interesting decision moving forward.' 

The Jets are not yet set on who'll start at quarterback on Sunday at home against the Texans (7-5).

More to follow...