Monday Night Football has become a bizarre game whenever Green Bay is on the slate. Last year in September, a group of replacement referees cost the Packers a win with the officials ruling a touchdown that was not one. This year, Green Bay loses not only the game but Aaron Rodgers as well to injury which is only being described as an issue with his left shoulder. For a Packer fan, these are not normal defeats.
I could not have been more mad after the Fail Mary. I stormed out of my household and walked around my neighborhood with music on talking to myself trying to figure out how this happened. It really was a rock bottom moment in my life which at the time featured me unemployed for my fourth straight month of college and the Packers were 1-2. I did not have much else to get excited about at that point.
This time around my feeling was not mad. I had no anger whatsoever about this one rather I felt sick to my stomach about the whole thing. I tried to refresh the hell out of Twitter to see if I can find anything going on even though I knew it was absolutely fruitless to do it. I felt a range of emotions watching this game and knowing what life is like for teams without a star quarterback. It made me feel bad for them and cheer like hell more when Green Bay made positive plays knowing they became the underdog on Monday Night. The fourth quarter sucked, but the game itself had some really fun moments despite the injury.
The worst part about Rodgers injury is the injury itself. When a player breaks a wrist or a hand, we know what the diagnosis will probably be and how long they will be out for. With a shoulder injury, no one really knows and everyone is different. Hell, Rodgers played with a separated left shoulder in 2008 and others have played with shoulder injuries. There are every sort of shoulder injury being thrown out there along with a few collarbone theories plus some former NFL doctors trying to make their money by tweeting out their analysis.
From what we know, Rodgers is out for three weeks according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. This is probably the most honest, trustworthy source on something like this. For whatever reason this year, Schefter keeps getting the scoops when it comes to Packers injuries. The only one he did not have is Clay Matthews but that's because FOX Sports reporter Jay Glazer trains with Clay. I am glad to see someone like Adam came out of the shadows to get the story on this injury because before him, it was a very murky situation.
First, we had Zach Zaidman of CBS Chicago reported Rodgers had a fractured his collarbone and put it on Twitter yet he deleted the tweet at some point of the night. It makes sense now why a youngish reporter would take down this tweet if he knew it to be true. Rick Reilly of ESPN also said it is a collarbone injury and he will miss five to six weeks. Riley is not a news-breaker yet he has forgot more people than I actually know in life. Even though I trust Schefter, I want to hear from Jason Wilde of ESPN Milwaukee. He is the go-to source for this one. He has the strongest relationship with Rodgers meaning he will be able to have more concrete information to Schefter's story.
Let's just say it is a major collarbone injury. They are almost always a six week injury meaning Rodgers would miss Philadelphia, New York Giants, Minnesota, Detroit, Atlanta and Dallas. Seneca Wallace did not look good at all and we will talk about it more in the SnoTap Classroom yet four of those teams are not world beaters by any means especially with how they play defense. If the Packers were to go .500, they would be 8-6 with two games left to play meaning a playoff spot is still in there and I have to believe Rodgers would come back if playoffs were a possibility.
The best case scenario besides not missing a start, is the current situation with Rodgers missing the next three games. They are against three poor defenses and that means he will be back for Detroit, arguably their most meaningful game down the stretch would be huge. Even if Green Bay would only win one game, they have a legitimate chance at making the playoffs. I have to believe this Packer team is good enough to beat one of the NFC East teams or the cellar dweller in the NFC North.
We will all wait for an answer about the quarterback. It is a tough time to be a Packer fan yet success always tastes sweeter when you have to kick adversity's ass.
Charlie.
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