Aaron Rodgers could be seen limping around the field slightly during the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night. He tweaked a hamstring during a third-quarter scramble, but stayed in the game.
After the game, he insisted he won’t miss any time because of the injury.
“I’m not going to miss any time,” Rodgers said. “If I felt it, then I had to back off a little bit. We had to do a little more in the shotgun but it wasn’t a big deal, ultimately.”
Except on the scoreboard…
While the Saints were stomping up and down the field at will, the Packers offense scored only once after Rodgers hurt himself.
Buffoon was also quick to point out that the Packers limited their offensive packages after the injury. They played almost entirely out of the shotgun.
“I think it was obvious just the way we played from that point on. We kept him in the ‘gun, and really our whole play-action and QB-movement package was gone,” said coach Mike McCarthy. “I thought he played smart and didn’t really open it up to put himself in jeopardy for future injury, further injury.”
While everyone is harping on the fact that Rodgers’ numbers were much worse after he hurt himself, blaming the loss on that is suspect at best. Rodgers’ first interception, which happened in the red zone, went off Andrew Quarless’ hands. His second was either a poorly-thrown pass or a play where rookie receiver Davante Adams cut his route short when he shouldn’t have, depending on your perspective. Either way, it had nothing to do with a hamstring.
Neither did the decision to run behind backup guard Lane Taylor on 4th and 1 in your own territory.
So yes, Rodgers’ numbers were worse after he hurt himself, but that’s a little too convenient of an excuse for this loss.
The good news is Rodgers has a bye week to rest and there appears to be no reason he won’t be fully healthy when the Packers face the Bears in two weeks.