FRISCO, Texas —  The Week 2 matchup between the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys was one of the few games most of the football world had circled on the calendar because it was going to be future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a new member of the New York Jets, once again doing battle with “America’s Team,” its top-five defense, quarterback Dak Prescott and former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy. 

His torn Achilles tendon on “Monday Night Football” against the Buffalo Bills cut his 2023 season down to four snaps.

Rodgers has an 8-2 lifetime record against the Dallas Cowboys, including a 3-0 mark on the road against Dallas. That’s something only he and Tom Brady can claim, a road record of 3-0 or better against the Cowboys. However, almost every Packers and Cowboys battle with Rodgers involved felt like a rivalry thanks to the many close finishes over the years. That and the missed opportunity for revenge is why the Dallas players will miss seeing him on Sunday. Prescott has been involved in three one-possession defeats against Rodgers, including the 2016 NFC Divisional Round playoffs when the four-time NFL MVP threw a seemingly impossible pass down the left sideline to tight end Jared Cook to put kicker Mason Crosby in position to connect for the game-winning field goal as time expired. 

Like Rodgers, Prescott suffered a catastrophic, season-ending leg injury when he went down with a fractured ankle in Week 5 of the 2020 season against the New York Giants. That allows him to empathize with Rodgers’ 2023 season being cut short. 

“Obviously I saw that, my heart broke for him,” Prescott said Thursday. “Honestly, in the moment I could tell by the way he went down that it was more serious than, I guess an ankle. I know he’s got a lot of support, and I just say leaning on that man, just keep faith, understand that everything happens for a reason….