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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is hoping to completely shed the use of his left knee brace when they take on the Los Angeles Rams this weekend.
Rodgers has been dealing with a left knee problem since injuring it against the Chicago Bears in Week 1. The 34-year-old was initially wearing a large brace on his knee which affected his mobility, but was using a smaller, lighter brace against the Detroit Lions earlier this month.
The switch to that brace was a promising sign until Rodgers suffered what he called a “setback” as a he took a hit from Detroit linebacker Christian Jones during the opening drive of the game.
Having hoped he wouldn’t have to go back to the larger brace against the San Francisco 49ers, that was the case as Rodgers helped Green Bay to a remarkable 33-30 comeback win.
A bye week has since followed, and although Rodgers hopes to practice Thursday, having missed out on Tuesday, it is still “too early to tell” if he can play against the Rams without a brace.
“It’s too early to tell. I mean I’d love to but it’s too early to tell at this point,” Rodgers told reporters on Tuesday. “If I’m completely healed, I don’t need to wear a brace. Feel more comfortable without it, obviously. Having dealt with a knee injury for much of my football life, obviously you’re more protected.”
“You see some guys who do wear it all the time without having issues, but I just feel more comfortable without having it on. So if it’s not on, that means I’m feeling great, and if it is, that means I’m not quite all the way back.”
The Packers, currently 3-2-1, will face the undefeated Rams on Sunday as huge underdogs.
The Los Angeles team are currently 7-0 in the regular season and are 8.5-point favorites over the Packers, according to the the SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas — the largest total by which Rodgers has been an underdog since becoming a starter for Green Bay.
That game will be followed by a tough November when they face the the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings. For Rodgers, he can’t remember a tougher stretch of league games.
“This is three division winners on the road and some tough tests for us,” Rodgers explained. “This week, obviously, a really hot team and then going against Tom [Brady] and Bill [Belichick] and those guys [Patriots], fantastic organization that’s obviously won a lot of championships, coming home and playing a tough Miami team, going on the road to one of the toughest places to play in the NFL and then obviously a big division rival game [against the Vikings]. It’s a tough stretch.”
“This is an important stretch in our season. I’m not going to say it’s going to define our season, but it’s definitely going to shake things out when we get on the other side of this and get back home in six weeks on where we’re at in the race and what we’re playing for.”
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