Aaron Rodgers Achilles injury: Marquez Valdes-Scantling not surprised with former teammate’s recovery timeline

While Aaron Rodgers‘ recovery from his Achilles injury has left many dumbfounded, one of his former teammates is certainly not one of those people. 

That teammate, Chiefs wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling, spent his first four seasons catching passes from Rodgers in Green Bay that included his two most recent MVP campaigns. Valdes-Scantling, who developed a close relationship with Rodgers during their time together with the Packers, isn’t among those people who can’t believe the future Hall of Fame quarterback may actually play again this season. 

“No, I’m not surprised at all,” Valdes-Scantling recently said during a one-on-one interview with CBS Sports. “When you know Aaron, that’s just who he is. He is a competitor, especially if he gets into a situation where he can prove someone wrong, he will live and die by it. He’s gotten so much slack for leaving Green Bay … people saying he wasn’t going to do well and whatever. 

“Him going down the way that he did the first game of the season was heartbreaking. But I know that it just gave him way more motivation, and that’s why you see him doing so much right now and even potentially coming back this year or early next year.” 

Valdes-Scantling’s comments provides insight into what is motivating Rodgers at this stage in both his career as well as his life. Approaching 40, Rodgers is at the age where an injury like the one he suffered would likely end his career. And given everything he has already accomplished, it would make plenty of sense if Rodgers decided to call it quits. 

But Rodgers is clearly motivated to prove his doubters wrong while showing people that you can achieve what was previously thought to be impossible by not listening to detractors and also being willing to think outside the box. That mindset is certainly helping Rodgers, who has progressed so much in his recovery that Jets general manager Joe Douglas said this week that he expects Rodgers to play again this season. Rodgers provided an update on his recovery by throwing passes on the field ahead of the Jets’ Week 8 win over the New York Giants. 

While Rodgers continues in his recovery, Valdes-Scantling and the rest of the Chiefs are preparing for Sunday’s big matchup against the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany. For Valdes-Scantling, Sunday’s game is just another marquee matchup in a career that’s hasn’t been devoid of big games. The six-year veteran has played in three conference championship games. He also played an integral role Kansas City’s Super Bowl season last fall. 

“Just keep being myself,” Valdes-Scantling said when asked what he hopes to accomplish moving forward. “Keep helping teams win games. I have a unique skill set that a lot of guys don’t possess, being my height and being able to run how I run and catch the way that I catch. I think teams can use it and that’s why I’ve been a part of good teams. … I’ve been a part of 14-, 13-win teams pretty much every year.” 

Valdes-Scantling and his teammates will be taking one comfort from home with them to Germany. Charmin recently sent the team their new toilet paper, Ultra Soft Smooth Tear, ahead of this weekend’s upcoming game. 

“Charmin’s getting me right for my trip over to Germany,” Valdes-Scantling said. “Just keeping my routine the same with their Ultra Soft Smooth Tear toilet paper. Keeping my routine the same. Going over to a different part of the world that you’ve never seen before, you just never know what to expect. Being able to have Charmin bless me with that and keeping my routine the same, I’m grateful that we’ve partnered up and I’m excited about that.”