In the dreary, decades-long historical past of the New York Jets, Monday evening’s sport was purported to be a turning level: Aaron Rodgers, a surefire Hall of Fame quarterback, was set to take the sphere surrounded by All-Pro expertise.

For followers of the group, which has lengthy appeared cursed, hopes had maybe by no means been increased. The Jets — and Rodgers specifically — have been the celebrities of HBO’s documentary collection “Hard Knocks” throughout coaching camp, amping up the thrill across the group to one thing approaching hysteria. This was purported to be the 12 months that the Jets lastly broke by way of; even the Super Bowl appeared inside attain.

All that hope and hype lasted precisely 4 performs.

Rodgers fell to the turf on a routine play early within the first quarter, stood briefly, then sat down, a glance of disbelief on his face. He had ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon — a probably devastating harm for a quarterback. His season was over. At age 39, there will probably be questions on whether or not his profession is, too.

“We all bought in. We all drank the Kool-Aid” that Rodgers would possibly lead the Jets to the Super Bowl, mentioned Scott Schoifet, a season-ticket holder who has attended each dwelling opener for the reason that early Nineties. “And then, four plays later, he’s on the ground.”

Improbably, the Jets received the sport in opposition to the Buffalo Bills on a dramatic time beyond regulation landing. But it was a hole win — and, in a bleak summer time for New York’s sports activities groups, a uncommon one.

This time of 12 months, with soccer season beginning and baseball’s pennant races in full swing, might be one of the thrilling in sports activities. But for New York followers, this week would possibly characterize a brand new low.

“It’s a lot of losing,” mentioned Frank Isola, a sports activities journalist for ESPN who seems on the reveals “Around the Horn” and “Pardon the Interruption.” “The U.S. Open ended this weekend. The Mets and Yankees are done. And part of you feels like the Jets and Giants are done already.”

Despite big payrolls and championship aspirations at first of the baseball season, the Mets and Yankees are mired at or close to the underside of their divisions.

And about 24 hours earlier than Rodgers’s harm occurred on the exact same MetLife Stadium discipline, a New York Giants group that had entered the season with a high-paid quarterback and star working again with a brand new contract was summarily thrashed 40-0 by the rival Dallas Cowboys.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a 24-hour span with so much disappointment in one venue, ever,” mentioned Darren Meenan, a Jets fan who watched the sport from his dwelling on Long Island. “It’s a kick to the gut.”

This summer time, solely the W.N.B.A.’s New York Liberty, whose first-round playoff collection begins this week, have managed to attain something greater than mediocrity.

The final New York space group to win a championship in one of many 4 greatest males’s American sports activities leagues was the Giants, who received the Super Bowl in 2012, on the finish of the 2011 season.

Since then, a number of groups constructed up followers’ hopes, solely to sprint them with accidents, persona clashes or the pure vicissitudes of sport. The Brooklyn Nets assembled a dream group, solely to look at its stars James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving fail to coalesce on the courtroom. The Yankees have been blessed this season with a excessive payroll and even increased expectations, however it all unraveled after outfielder and group captain Aaron Judge injured his toe in June.

New accidents proceed to plague the Yankees, as extremely regarded rookie outfielder Jasson Dominguez was identified on Sunday with a ligament tear in his proper elbow, ending his season.

Perhaps no group underperformed extra spectacularly than the Mets, the place Steve Cohen, the group’s billionaire proprietor, spent greater than $400 million on participant contracts and “luxury taxes” paid to different groups as a penalty for ignoring Major League Baseball’s spending caps.

That spending spree included a five-year, $102 million contract for pitcher Edwin Díaz, whose season ended earlier than it even started when he tore a tendon in his knee throughout a world match in March. The greatest query now’s whether or not the Mets can keep away from ending the 2023 season with the worst document in baseball.

“It was harder to watch games this season than most years I’ve watched this team, just because of how high the expectations were,” mentioned Mr. Meenan, proprietor of The 7 Line, a Mets-themed attire firm.

Even the Red Bulls, house owners of the longest lively streak of creating the Major League Soccer Playoffs — 13 years — are sitting close to the underside of the league. The New York City Football Club, which has made the playoffs for seven straight years and received a championship in 2021, isn’t faring a lot better.

But it’s Jets followers whose agony, within the wake of the information about Rodgers, is most acute — the bottom second within the historical past of a group whose most notable latest second is the so-called butt fumble, which concerned a Jets quarterback slamming so onerous into his personal teammate’s rear finish that he misplaced the ball.

And but for some followers, hope continues to spring everlasting. Spike Lee concedes that some New York groups are struggling, however not his beloved Knicks.

“Last night was a disaster” for the Jets, Mr. Lee mentioned. “But we got the Knicks, though! We’re going to conference finals at least! I have full belief.”

Baseball followers, disenchanted by the Yankees and Mets, have been trying to the opening video games of soccer season for some aid, mentioned Chris Russo, a longtime New York sports activities speak radio persona. The Giants drubbing and the Rodgers harm have been miserable, Mr. Russo mentioned, however not essentially trigger for alarm since each the Giants and Jets have 16 extra video games to play within the common season.

“This was a terrible weekend for the football teams,” Mr. Russo mentioned. “But it’s not the apocalypse yet. I don’t think the Jets team is writing off the season because of this one game.”

For many, although, Tuesday morning was spent within the 5 levels of grief, from denial that Rodgers’s harm was as grievous because it appeared all the best way to grim acceptance, when the group introduced that its star quarterback would spend the season on the bench.

On ESPN, Mike Greenberg — the host of the morning dialogue present “Get Up” and an avowed Jets fan — struggled to get although his remarks. “I can’t pretend this is a normal morning,” he mentioned, and added, “from a sports perspective, this is about as overwhelming as anything that could possibly happen.”

On X, the social media web site previously generally known as Twitter, Mr. Greenberg’s daughter posted, maybe solely partially tongue in cheek: “thank you everyone for your concern about my father’s mental state i am here to confirm it is not good.”

Boomer Esiason, a former Jets quarterback and now a commentator on the radio station WFAN, started his present on Tuesday morning by saying, “Yeah, I’m sick to my stomach, man.”

Fans felt an analogous illness.

“I’m so upset. Devastated, honestly,” mentioned Marin Kerker, 19, who wore a Jets jersey on Tuesday morning as she walked to a health care provider’s appointment in Manhattan.

Of course, the group’s fan base has a status for enthusiasm that verges on the obnoxious, and its tragedy engendered greater than just a little schadenfreude on Tuesday.

In Brooklyn, Charles Jackson, a Chicago Bears fan, used a well-recognized however profane expression about karma to drive dwelling the purpose.

“That’s what I told everyone this morning in my elevator,” mentioned Mr. Jackson, 57, earlier than clarifying: “I don’t like to see anyone get hurt. But I doubt if the guy will be coming back.”

For a long time, Ken Pikowski has been a Jets superfan. Known to his pals as “End Zone Kenny,” he attended most dwelling video games dressed as The Incredible Hulk, full with a building helmet in Jets inexperienced and white.

But within the final two years he has discovered it harder to maintain the religion, he mentioned. He was not at Monday evening’s sport. He bore witness to the bottom second in his group’s historical past on tv.

“I had to take a break,” Mr. Pikowski mentioned. “After 45 years as a Jets fan, you get exhausted after a while.”

Claire Fahy and Erin Nolan contributed reporting.