As he somberly shook his head toward the sideline and sat down before being assisted to the locker room, Rodgers appeared to understand he had sustained the injury on the field.

Naturally, a few inquiries need to be answered in light of the injury that was just revealed. For Jets supporters, none of these will be very simple to read, but the implications of this affect the whole NFL. Let’s begin with the most excruciating one and pull off the bandage:

In a practical sense, sure. Last season, despite having a strong defense with Wilson leading the team, they were unable to contend for a postseason berth; instead, they had to win five games against backup quarterbacks to finish 7-10. The Jets cannot hope to contend with the Bills, Bengals, Chiefs, and other elite teams in the AFC for the duration of the season and into the postseason without some astonishing Wilson development that we did not witness Monday night or the emergence of a completely unanticipated remedy.

Recall that Wilson is still subject to all the worries that some of us had about this squad when Rodgers was on it. Even though the defense was the healthiest group in football the previous season, it is doubtful that this will happen again. (New York did not have top-edge rusher Carl Lawson for the Bills game, and starting safety Chuck Clark was already lost for the campaign.)

Both the offensive line and Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive coordinator, are huge questions. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Jets have the fourth-toughest schedule overall after playing a devastating opening-round schedule. These are questions that will not go away.

Indeed! With 16 games left, they still have a lot to gain. Even if Wilson didn’t perform well last season and doesn’t appear to be much better this year, the Jets have a formula they might try to stick with in the hopes of winning games the rest of the way. That recipe was put to use on Monday night.