Already dealing with one notable injury, Aaron Rodgers was even more banged up by the end of Green Bay’s loss to the Eagles Sunday night. Rodgers exited the game in the third quarter with a rib injury, and did not return. 
The reigning MVP confirmed last week that he has been playing through a broken thumb in his throwing hand for much of the season, one in which his and the team’s performance have not been up to par. While he insisted that he would not miss time as a result of the injury, the idea of an IR stint to close out the season once the Packers fall out of contention has been brought up.
Rodgers was noticeably in pain leading up to his departure from the game, and was initially thought to have suffered an oblique injury. The 38-year-old said after the game, however, that he feared he had broken ribs; X-Rays were inconclusive in determining whether or not that was the case. As a result, he will undergo further testing today (video link via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network).
With Rodgers sidelined last night, Jordan Love filled in with his third appearance of the season and just the ninth of his career. The 2020 first-rounder went 6-for-9 passing with 113 yards and one touchdown in relief, potentially offering a small glimpse of what he could do in a showcase for the remainder of the regular season. Depending on the results of Rodgers’ tests, however, the latter intends to keep playing.
“As long as we’re mathematically alive, I’d like to be out there,” Rodgers said after the game. Green Bay sits at 4-8, leaving them with a very narrow path to an NFC Wild Card berth. That, coupled with his health status, could lead to calls for Love taking over to finish out the season – something which, if it were to take place, would invite serious speculation on Rodgers’ playing future given the presumed year-to-year nature of his sizeable extension signed this offseason.
As the Packers await further information on Rodgers regarding his health, the team will turn its attention to this Sunday’s contest against the Bears. Who will be under center for them for that game, and beyond, will remain a storyline worth watching in the coming days.
LOL, Aaron’s such a team player. Love was shockingly impressive yesterday. I think he’s the best QB they have right now.
I would hesitate to let nine pass attempts decide a change of heart on a disappointing first round pick just yet.
No matter who starts in Green Bay, the wide receivers and offensive line will need SIGNIFICANT upgrades. Management has put that off for so long that the offense as a whole is pretty much done for at the moment.
Just a layman’s perspective. I thought him to be a bust, but watching him yesterday he looked quite good. My point is more about losing faith in A-Rod as opposed to anything else.
A long, cold winter is about to set on the Pack. That D w/ all those 1st picks played like they were 6th rounders instead. Throw in Aaron’s cap & steep decline. It’s going to be ugly.
Heads are gonna roll either way. Losing seasons are NOT accepted in Green Bay. A defense with 7 or 8 1st rounders and we’re one of the very worst defenses is pathetic.
The Packers should just trade Rodgers after the season and get started on the inevitable rebuild.
Who would want him? An expensive, old, arrogant, declining QB is what I see.
Only all those teams that are unhappy with their current QB situation (minus the ones who just gave their latest off-season mistake a new contract).
Arty, do you really think that no NFL team would want Aaron Rodgers? We’ve seen several old veteran QBs decline (or just have bad years) this season-Brady, Rodgers, Stafford, Wilson-and every single one of them would be sought after by most teams if they became available. Even Wilson, who’s by far the least valuable. There really are only a handful of exceptions, and they’re obvious-Kansas City, Buffalo, the Chargers, and Cincy (I suppose that you could throw Cleveland in there, and likely Baltimore).
Rodgers, unlike the others, does have better excuses. His receivers, tight ends, and offensive linemen are undeniably worse than the other QBs on that list. Coaches have attempted to turn around lesser QBs by thinking that they can “fix” deficiencies with better rosters. You think that there’s not a team that looks at Rodgers and says, “Yeah, but with OUR guys…”
Ben, Breese, Rivers, both Mannings all declined drastically in their late 30’s. Why would Aaron be any different? That’s a long list of HoF’ers right?
Would some foolish team trade for him in hope he regains his form, sure.
Well, to be fair, it’s not Rodgers’ physical ability throwing the ball that has declined this season, at least not yet. The ball looks good, still. Rodgers is still maneuvering in the pocket. The receivers are just dropping passes, in the wrong place, or not getting separation.
It also appears that they’re not running many of the same routes, because obviously either Rodgers or the Packers don’t trust them to do it. That accounts for a lot of the throwaways, too. Should Rodgers trust them more? I don’t know the answer to that. But his GM did leave him with a group of receivers whose career high in catches was 40 (and Sammy Watkins, who has a single 1000 yard season in his career and has caught 13 balls this year). The protection also hasn’t been good. I don’t think that he’s physically in decline yet. If he continues to stupidly play with these injuries that will absolutely change.
Manning also won a Super Bowl with a dead arm. Managing the game is invaluable for a team, and Rodgers is in better shape than Manning was that year. Before that, Manning also had the best passing season in history. I do think that, if for some unforeseen reason Rodgers got loose, teams would absolutely want him.
If I recall, when Manning won it w/ Denver he was hurt for a period of time during the season & sat for a few games. that D was very good.The D absolutely shut down MVP Cam in the game.
Recent history & the rest of NFL time as well, 38 year old players in the NFL have major drop offs.
I wouldn’t even think about it if I were a GM ‘a QB away’ from competing. I get trading for 33 year old Stafford and Wilson. You should expect another 3 years of quality football.
I can name 5
Off the top of my head I could see the Titans, Jets, Raiders, Colts and possibly the Giants all thinking they are a QB away from making a deep playoff run. I think if the Packers can get a 1st and 2nd for him they should consider it. It would have to be a June 1st trade so his dead money is reduced to $31.5MM. Use the picks to shore up the O-Line and receiving corps and they should be at least competitive in 2023.
Niners
Done with Trey already?
The last time the Jets signed a Packer legend was 2008 and that did not end well.
Maybe Rodgers won’t send pics of his privates to anyone, or just use it as a layover until he can get to the Vikings for a revenge tour.
@arty ..nobody is refusing to acquire a qb who they believe can get them a deep playoff run and possibly a SB because they (you) think he’s arrogant. If he truly is all of the things you insist he is, plus has Deshaun Watson baggage, then yeah, teams pass (because Cleveland has Watson).
I suspect you’re aware of the supposed interest by basically every current playoff team in OBJ. If that many teams actually want him..I’d bet good money 5 or 6 squads would be after Rodgers.
There’s really no point for us to start Rodgers anymore, Love looked good and our season is pretty much over, I hate to say it but that may have been Rodgers last game in green and gold
Haha. He HOPED his ribs were broken, but here we are again with no excuse other than he is old and isn’t TB12. This is just too much fun to watch!!!
You look stupid when you make crap up.
Not so fast! Rodgers has insulated himself in his last contract. The deal is officially viewed as a 3 year, $150.8 million contract extension. That includes a fully-guaranteed, base salary of $59.5 million in 2023 and $49.3 million that is “not guaranteed” in 2024. So even IF……they chose to move on they will owe him $59.5 million which seems unlikely they’d pay? So the option seems more obvious they won’t be making a move until the 2024 season.
I bet if they start Love the rest of the season, part of the underlying hope would be to get Rodgers to quit…
Time to fire up the printing press for shares.
If they trade A-Rod after June 1st his dead cap hit will basically match his projected cap hit of $31.5MM.
You have to fire the DC. All of this talent on defense and it’s been so bad all year.
They have lots of guys injured, still even beforehand very underwhelming.
For most of the past decade the philosophy for the defense has been to just ignore the run. Even dopes like me see that. Even when they get guys on the roster to help shore that up…they don’t see the field. I swear if Berry HAD 10 DB’s, he’d play them all together, with Preston Smith, and use Smith at deep safety. The players need to execute better, sure. But it would help if the coaches put guys in a better position to do so.
Packers have problems, but on the list of problems Rodgers is way down that list. He’s having a bad year by his standards, but he’s still a top QB even with a broken thumb, a bad OL, no decent TE’s, a bunch of rookies and scrubs at WR who can’t stay on the field. That’s just on offense— no mention of their awful defense which has had more draft capital thrown it’s way than nearly any other team the last 15 years.
That’s a very lame excuse.There’s such a thing as a salary cap.Rodgers wants to be greedy that’s on him but you can’t have a very high priced diva like him and top wr’s too
While we are talking broken ribs anyone know how Carr is? He took a shot early in the game 1st or 2nd possession. He was on the ground it extreme pain. We went to commercial came back he was throwing on the sideline. Don’t know if he went into the tent or not. Seemed like if he got a shot it was fast. He played the rest of the game and didn’t seem bothered by it. I thought at first they were playing with fire. If he had broken ribs and went back out got hit again and one punctured his lung that would not be good. I haven’t heard anything had to be something he is not a soccer player.
I put all the blame this season on COVID. I am sure Rodgers cannot fully concentrate on the season while he is still researching the vaccine. Then put on top of that the hallucinogenics he feels he has to have and then appearing on a right wing agenda pushing podcast, takes a lot out of a guy scraping to get by!
Does being this stupid take effort, or does it come naturally?
@cuban I think he was trying to be funny.
Nah, thats clearly coming from a place of hostility and resentment, the part about the podcast is the dead giveaway. Btw, i hope there is some other “right wing agenda” podcast Rodgers has been on that im not aware of, because if he’s talking about Rogan who is an self described leftist, he may be dumber than I thought.
I generally just ignore sports figures non-sports/off the field/court stuff provided they aren’t committing criminal acts because it’s pretty much irrelevant. And I try and stay even further away from discussing, nevermind bringing that kind of stuff up, when I don’t like the individual to begin with. It really perplexes me how many people go out of their way to find stories about individuals they don’t like, then complain that everything is about that person.