Aaron Rodgers was driven into the ground hard earlier today and had to be carted off with an apparent injury to his shoulder area.
The #Packers Aaron Rodgers injury who is in the medical tent pic.twitter.com/AI9V8lVAEm
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 15, 2017
And now, as early reports feared, the Packers offered official confirmation that Rodgers has suffered a broken right collarbone, and his timeline for a return is not promising:
QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone. There's a chance he could miss the rest of the season.
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) October 15, 2017
It’s not often the team Twitter feed will be so forthcoming with bad news like that, which means they really must be looking to prepare fans for the potential of a season with Aaron Rodgers. That’s a big loss for Green Bay, of course, but it’s also a big loss for the league at large.
Rodgers suffered a similar injury in 2013, when then-Bears linebacker Shea McClellin drove Rodgers into the ground in similar fashion. Rodgers eventually returned in time to play the Packers regular season finale, a win over the Bears that sent Green Bay to the playoffs. That injury, though, was to his left collarbone, not his throwing arm, and that’s a crucial difference.
Hopefully Rodgers is able to make a recovery, but it seems like injured reserve is a real possibility. That would leave the Packers with Brett Hundley and practice squad member Joe Callahan, hardly a murderer’s row of backup quarterbacks. The Packers also have until October 31st’s trade deadline to potentially add a player in that fashion, but at this point, things certainly look grim.
