NEWSLETTER
Aaron Rodgers is on injured reserve with a broken collarbone and isn’t eligible to return until Week 15, but the Green Bay Packers’ star quarterback returned to work on Tuesday to mentor his backup.
Rob Demovsky of ESPN reports Rodgers was back at Lambeau Field for the first time since his collarbone surgery. It’ll be a while until Rodgers returns to the practice field, but his head coach knows he can be valuable in helping develop backup Brett Hundley.
“Just in the meeting today, there’s always a suggestion or a moment you’re watching the tape and going through the Lions defense, their two-minute drills for the year, spend more time on that with the extra time,” Head Coach Mike McCarthy said while explaining the value of Rodgers’ presence. “He’s played a number of games against those guys, so he understands the history of their defense. And history is good to point to when you have a little more extra time like we do today, but the fact of the matter is we’ve got to get dialed into it in game plan, and that process is the same for Aaron that it is for any quarterback. He’ll definitely help Brett with that.”
Rodgers is 13-3 all-time against the Lions and owns a 34-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio, as well as a 109.4 passer rating. If Hundley is wise, he’ll soak up everything Rodgers throws in his direction.
As for Rodgers’ return, McCarthy offered up a little bit of hope:
Sliver of optimism from McCarthy on Rodgers? pic.twitter.com/8zDNaThSgi
— Zach Kruse (@zachkruse2) October 31, 2017
Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer offered up his own bit of optimism regarding the return of Teddy Bridgewater, telling reporters he was “prepared” to activate the quarterback next week. However, he was hesitant to go out on a limb and suggest Bridgewater would immediately return to his starting role.
“No, I haven’t decided that yet. We’ll continue to take it one day at a time,” Zimmer told reporters. “Just see where he is at, where the team is at, how Case [Keenum] is doing. The whole deal. Sam [Bradford], how is he doing.”
Zimmer said he believed Bradford’s injury was going to be just a one week thing, but said his Week 1 quarterback was getting better – even if it is taking longer than expected.
The Bears will play the Packers when they return from their bye. And unless something drastic happens against the Lions on Monday Night Football, the team will get its second look at Hundley this season. If you’ll recall, Hundley played three snaps against Chicago in relief of Rodgers in a Week 4 blowout, completing the only pass he threw.
Meanwhile, the Vikings aren’t on the Bears’ schedule again until Week 17. Ideally – from a Minnesota perspective – Bridgewater will be healthy enough to have started a few games as the team makes its own push for a postseason spot. But it’s evident that quarterback situation is far from settled.
