Aaron Rodgers Injury: Green Bay Packers QB does all drills, looks good
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) on the sidelines during the first quarter of a NFL football game against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
The Green Bay Packers continue to have an immensely difficult decision to make when it comes to Aaron Rodgers’s status, and this week’s decision is the most difficult one yet. Rodgers has made good progress and seems healthy enough to be back, and the Packers are indeed in playoff contention. But the Packers are also going up against a bad defense in the Dallas Cowboys and could theoretically win with Matt Flynn starting, and the Packers barely have a chance of making the playoffs as-is. Beyond that, the Packers have always wanted to play things as safely as possible with their franchise QB, since broken collarbones are tricky and can be very serious if aggravated.
Dr. Pat McKenzie is the man making the final call on whether or not Rodgers is healthy enough to play this week against the Cowboys, and the Packers haven’t cleared their franchise’s savior yet. It was reported yesterday by ESPN’s Ed Werder that the Packers don’t want to play Rodgers within eight weeks of the injury, since they are worried of an aggravation. It seems like the Packers are increasingly unwilling to play Rodgers due to the risk of re-injury, and Rodgers isn’t even as optimistic on his playing status anymore.
But he’s definitely making progress, which is evident when looking at the reports regarding his practice status. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Pete Dougherty, Aaron Rodgers participated in every single drill today and threw with “ease” and “velocity”. That’s definitely great news, but it barely sheds light on Rodgers’s Week 15 status. It still seems like the Packers are leaning towards starting Flynn another week, though I would say that it’s a pure toss-up at this point. Every report regarding Rodgers’s status needs to be digested, because this is clearly a volatile situation.