Green Bay put up a fight against the one-loss Philadelphia Eagles on the primetime stage but was injured (potentially) beyond recovery.
The Packers lost starting QB Aaron Rodgers to what appears to be a rib injury that may not just prove to be the end of his season but Green Bay’s altogether.
Rodgers went into the locker room in the third quarter, down 34-23. His injury was identified as an oblique strain; clutching his side throughout the period, Rodgers ultimately opted to cut his night short and allow Jordan Love to step in and close out.
The Packers fell to the Eagles, 40-33, after an exceptional outing by the Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and his stout offensive line.
Jordan Love played above expectations following three seasons of sparse optimism from the Packers fandom. He completed 6 of 9 passes for 113 passing yards and a touchdown. His stats weren’t far off from Rodgers’, who left the game with 140 passing yards (11-of-16), two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Trainers were monitoring Rodgers throughout the third quarter. He suffered a brutal sack from defensive lineman Fletcher Cox in the second quarter and Brandon Graham in the third quarter. Rodgers appeared to be wincing in pain before heading to the locker room: clutching his ribs on the final offensive drive.
On that drive, the Packers drove the ball into Philadelphia’s red zone after a barrage of rushing attempts by Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon, with Rodgers and Packers HC Matt LaFleur actively avoiding any pass attempts.
“Rib block injection and/or flak jacket and return for next offensive serious is my assumption,” OutKick’s ProFootballDoc tweeted once Rodgers left the game.
Coming into the SNF contest, Rodgers was dealing with an avulsion fracture to his right-hand thumb.
Hurts’ 157 rushing yards were the fifth-most by a quarterback in a single game in NFL history.
Green Bay fell to 4-8 on the season, while Philadelipha improved to an NFC-leading 10-1 record.
The consensus opinion Sunday evening expected Rodgers to be shut down for the season now that he’s dealing with two serious upper-body injuries at age 38. Rodgers will undergo further testing on Monday.
“I’m wishing [Rodgers] a speedy recovery; we got this time around, though,” Jalen Hurts gleefully said after the game.
