Cover your ears, Jets fans: Aaron Rodgers says his knee is ‘banged up’

The New York Jets fell to 2-2 on the season with an embarrassing loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers and the New York offense managed a whopping nine points in total, not finding pay dirt once the stout Broncos defense. We know the Jets' defense can hold its own — Bo Nix threw for 60 yards in a win — but until the offense can avoid lulls of this magnitude, it's hard to feel good about New York as a contender in the wide-open AFC.

Rodgers has been fairly solid through four weeks, but Sunday was a step in the wrong direction. After steady progression through the first three games, shaking off the rust in real time and looking more limber with each successive possession, he regressed in Week 4. It wasn't the worst imaginable performance, as Rodgers did not commit a turnover, but he only completed 57.1 percent of his passes and averaged 5.4 yards per attempt.

The hard-throwing, chains-moving version of Rodgers we saw in a Week 3 dismantling of the New England Patriots was not on the field this past weekend. At 40 years old, we should probably plan for Rodgers to have a stray bad game every now and then. He's just not the bankable, everyday MVP candidate he once was. But, by that same token, it's fair to get concerned about Rodgers' sudden stall in progress this past Sunday.

Rodgers raised serious alarm bells on Tuesday when he appeared on The Pat McAfee Show.

Aaron Rodgers has 'swollen' knee after Jets Week 4 loss to Broncos

This is nightmare fuel for a Jets fanbase that has been through enough football trauma to last a lifetime. Rodgers, of course, is coming off a torn Achilles at age 39, which is tough for most regular humans to recover from. Rodgers is a generational athlete who appeared to recover at record pace last season, but he's still battling Father Time. Knees are fickle friends in the sports world and Rodgers, evidentally, is not quite at 100 percent strength on the field.

The ramifications of ongoing knee pain are significant. Not only is there a potential risk of re-injury, but Rodgers is going to be limited in his mobility outside (and inside) the pocket. You need to be able to comfortably plant and push off to throw, too. A bum knee impacts all areas of the game for a quarterback, as much as any other position on the team.

Rodgers has, on balance, been about as good as you could've expected from a player in his situation. It's clear the four-time MVP is still working through issues with his recovery, though. Or perhaps it's more accurate to call it maintenance. Rodgers has recovered to as close as 100 percent can he can get, but keeping the knee in tip-top shape is a whole new challenge.

New York has a tough upcoming schedule, including a matchup with the undefeated Minnesota Vikings in London this Sunday. It won't get easier for Rodgers moving forward; here's to hoping he can stay healthy.