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:
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.