Aaron Rodgers could look a little different when he returns next week from the Green Bay Packers’ bye.
If all goes well, the quarterback will play his next game without the restrictive brace he has worn on his injured left knee.
Rodgers said he discussed that with team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie right after Monday night’s 33-30 last-second win over the San Francisco 49ers.cheap nfl nike jersey
“Yeah, I just told Doc, I’d love to take the brace off after the bye,” Rodgers said after the game. “But we’ll see how I respond tomorrow and this week and next week and probably get some sort of image of it again. But that would be nice to be feeling great come next week Wednesday.”
What could that mean for a Packers offense that has already relied heavily on its banged-up quarterback in the first six games?
“Well, I think it’s just stating the obvious: If you’re [not] wearing a brace, it’s definitely, it gives you more free range,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday. “Those are all medical decisions, and we’ll work through that. We’ll just see where he is. I’m sure that he’s anxious to get that brace off.”
Considering what the Packers (3-2-1) face after this week’s bye — four out of five on the road starting with at the Rams and at the Patriots and ending at the Seahawks and at Minnesota after a home game against Miami — any improvement in Rodgers’ knee and overall health would be welcome.cheap nfl jerseys china nike
Monday night’s game was Rodgers’ fifth straight with at least 40 passing attempts; he completed 25 of 46 passes for 425 yards with two touchdowns and a passer rating of 100.4. He is now two games shy of tying the single-season record for consecutive games with 40-plus pass attempts, held by Drew Bledsoe in 1995, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Before this current five-game streak, Rodgers had never attempted that many passes in more than three straight games.
To be sure, the Packers’ slow starts have put Rodgers in a must-throw situation. That’s not entirely new, but this season has taken it to another level. Since 2015, the Packers’ first-through-third-quarter scoring differential is minus-91, which ranks 20th in the NFL, but their fourth-quarter differential is plus-105, best in the league over that stretch.