Aaron Rodgers confirmed what’s been widely suspected.
The Packers’ quarterback has been playing with a broken thumb, he told reporters on Wednesday.
Asked how big a challenge that has been, Rodgers said, “I think I’ve had worse injuries I’ve played with, so definitely a challenge but the days off definitely help this week.”
He believes this isn’t the most an injury has affected his throwing, however.
“When I hurt my knee in 2018, you throw from the ground up, so that was definitely difficult from the footwork,” Rodgers said. “When I broke my index finger in college, that was probably a slightly more important finger to deal with.”
He relayed that at the time this former Cal coach Jeff Tedford told him he could miss one day of practice in a week but if he missed a second, he would be out.
Rodgers said the thumb injury happened Week 5 in the Packers’ loss to the Giants in London, per The Athletic. He said he did not consider surgery, and that it will also not be necessary after the season.
Starting with that defeat to the Giants, the Packers have lost five out of their past six games to fall to 4-7.
Rodgers has not been performing up to the caliber of being the two-time defending NFL MVP in that stretch and played particularly poorly in a can’t-lose game at home against the Titans last Thursday night in which Green Bay fell 27-17. Rogers has completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 2,542 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions to just a 41.8 quarterback rating this season.
The 39-year-old quarterback signed a massive contract extension with the Packers this past offseason for $150 million over three years.
Green Bay currently is a longshot to make the playoffs. Their odds on FanDuel to make the postseason are +660 and odds to miss are -900. This means they have about a 13 percent chance to make a run to the playoffs from here.