#Packers practice report: Rodgers takes part in practice for first time since breaking his collarbone:
EDIT: F it. This warrants it's own thread.
This doesn't necessarily mean Rodgers goes against the Lions but door is obviously open. Obviously helps to have Barclay back out there
Barclay returns WITH Rodgers says a lot. Have to think if there is no chance Barclay plays, there is little chance Rodgers would.
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I really wish Don Barclay would play. I don't know how much longer I can stand watching Marshall Newhouse.
@WesHod also just tweeted that Bovada has taken the Packers/Lions game off the board. Lions were previously 6 point favorites.
Line changing has nothing to do with the possibility Rodgers might start. It's because Newhouse might not start.
McCarthy: Aaron Rodgers went through individual drills, was limited participant. Does not look like Aaron is going to make it.
MM: Good day for throwing, he feels good but I don't feel he's going to make it this week. Chances are closer to none that he will play.
MM: Had conversation with Rodgers, clearly understand his role and responsibiltiy. It's medical decision. he's not quite ready.
MM: Matt Flynn took the starter reps today. It was a big mental day for us.
MM: We're so much further ahead than we were last week at QB with Scott and Matt. Feel lot better that both QBs will be better prepared.
I think Flynn was prepared last week.
It was MM who was not prepared to get him in the game sooner.
I wonder if AR would go if we had a Sunday game.
dream from heaven
Line changing has nothing to do with the possibility Rodgers might start. It's because Newhouse might not start.
Let him sit this week and heal up. Short week this week turns into long week until Atl game. Hopefully he will progress and heal enough to come back after 10 day layoff.
Worthy of note that Flynn's epic performance was against the Lions.
I wonder if anyone else noticed that?
Just gamesmanship for the Loins. Let them raise an eyebrow.
Let him sit this week and heal up. Short week this week turns into long week until Atl game. Hopefully he will progress and heal enough to come back after 10 day layoff.
10-day layoff?
Here is another case where I don't understand MM's handling of injury information.
If I were him I would be as vague as possible, list AR as Questionable and let the tweets and pictures of AR practicing give the Lions a lot to think about.
Why is he out there telling everybody there is almost no chance that AR will play?
Worthy of note that Flynn's epic performance was against the Lions.
Not sure if that's a plus or minus. If I were the Lions I would love having another shot (at home) against the back-up that made our D look stupid.
Okay, help me understand this: What the heck do the Packers gain by even hinting that AR will be active for the game? I can see the advantage with the other way -saying he looks doubtful and then he plays to catch the Lions off guard. Doesn't make sense to me.
Schwartz is a maroon, but I agree with FS. Why tell the Lions anything today unless MM is flat out lying now and has every intention of playing AR but is sending the opposite info?
It's odd that yesterday MM said for AR to have any chance of playing he would have to practice on Wed. Yet today (though limited) there he is practicing.
If I was MM, I take a page right out of the Bilicheat Bible and give every impression that Rodgers could start and have Schwartz sweating not knowing if it's Rodgers or the guy who made 15 million off of you in one game. And come tomorrow, list Rodgers as questionable.
Lions don't handle success well and they are reeling right now. There is nothing wrong with adding to their current brain farts.
Damn! I knew it! Some of us fans are actually smarter than some coaches regarding football. I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!
Schwartz is a maroon, but I agree with FS. Why tell the Lions anything today unless MM is flat out lying now and has every intention of playing AR but is sending the opposite info?
That is the only thing that makes sense but if that is the case MM needs to sell it again tomorrow and make it sound like AR took a step backward or did not feel good after practice or something...maybe he will.
I know by NFL rule, teams have to truthfully (*wink wink*) list an injury report tomorrow for a Thursday game and if a player is more then likely playing, they can't list him as doubtful for example.
But I also can't recall any team getting into trouble for BSing an injury report either. Frowned on? Yes. But it's not likes heads rolled when a guy like Shanahan would do it.
Let's see how much Rodgers muddys the water when his show takes place at 5pm CST
Rather good article just posted on Bleacher Report from an MD regarding the healing process for collarbones. And it's on one page! Unlike the BR click generators.
I would think Questionable would be an acceptable report for AR, even if MM knew 100% he was ready to play or that he was 100% not going to play.
"Game time decision"
Gives the opponent no real info and is not going to get you in trouble with the league either.
How do they test the collarbone to know if he is 50/50 or a game time decision, if they don't know today that he is ready to go and will be playing Thursday?
I don't think he plays this week. I still think it will be the ATL game. 24 days vs 34 days post injury.
I would imagine if AR was listed as questionable without medical clearance the league wouldn't look too kindly on it. He's not playing and it will be up to the defense to keep the Packers in the game.
I don't think there is any possible way he is playing. As much as Schwartz is an idot, I doubt that they are freaking out over the fact that AR threw a few passes today.
Yes, that's correct. The league will deal with it if injury report monkey business goes too far. And all of the armchair poker players should keep in mind that the Bills and Pats were fined in recent years for engaging in shenanigans with the injury report. The Jets were too, but well after the fact because 
shockingly ran his yap about how he played hurt and what a warrior he was the following season.
From cuqui's link:
Will he play on Thanksgiving? Is this a pain thing? Is he not tough enough?
The answer to all three questions: probably not.
Rather, Rodgers must overcome one huge obstacle before returning to the field, and it's not pain tolerance.
It's also not willpower.
It's time.
IMO, that's a bit misleading, the time aspect. From what I understand, while there is not a shot or other type of medication to accelerate the healing process, there are nutritional steps that someone can follow that can aide the process. Healing in the body needs energy and that can be adequately supported with increased calories. Increasing your protein input helps as well. An increase of anti-inflammatory nutrients, like antioxidants can help. Another boost can come from an increase in minerals introduced to the body, bone is nearly 70% minerals, so the more Zinc, Copper, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, and Silica - all minerals in bone - can help. Vitamin's C, D, and K are all part of the absorption or synthesis of the minerals in the bone development process.
Still think it will be the ATL game.
Gotta Win with Flynn this week.
"pretty sure you get all those things from French fries"
- Eddie Lacy
Sounds more like something Eddie Van Halen might say.
EKB,
Good find cuqui that article from bleacher report answer a lot of question for me. A minimum of about 2 more weeks for Rodgers until his broken bone becomes stabilized, every week after that it gets stronger. Bring Rodgers back they risk 5 to 6 months of rehab ruining Rodgers off season work out program.
Does MM risk next season for a long shot super bowl bid this year?
Next season the Packers O-Line should a whole lot better with some powerful running backs. They will have an offseason and a draft to fix their safety problem. Next year it looks like the window will be open for a super bowl bid unless Rodgers get hurt again.
Flynn will have an "undisclosed injury, we're doing more testing." Rodgers will play the 2nd half of the game & save us.
From Rodgers himself, today:
Green Bay - Packers QB Aaron Rodgers said he felt like a part of the team again Tuesday after taking some throws in practice, but he said he is not far enough along in his rehab to return to the field.
Rodgers, speaking to Jason Wilde on his weekly radio show on ESPN Milwaukke said there is more to it than just having his cracked collarbone heal. He said despite not having any pain in the area, he is not back to a place where the doctors would feel good about clearing him.
"Like I’ve said, I haven’t had any pain throwing," Rodgers said. "The issues – which people probably don’t understand, they think, ‘Oh, he has no pain, why doesn’t he play?’ – it’s not that simple. There’s obviously risk-management and then here’s the flexibility and the strength, which are two other components of this injury that have to be where I want them to be in order to play.
"The flexibility and the strength have been the last to come and we’ll go from there."
Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/233535431.html
“I’m an optimist,” Rodgers said when asked if he, like his coach, was ready to give up hope of playing against the Lions. “So I’m not there.”
Chances are, though, that Rodgers will not play against the Lions, and that his return will likely come Dec. 8 against Atlanta, after a 10-day break between games. After watching his friend and backup from 2008 through 2011, Matt Flynn, rally the team to a 26-26 tie with the Minnesota Vikings last Sunday, Rodgers figures to be a spectator again in Detroit, with Flynn expected to start.
While McCarthy wouldn’t officially name Flynn the starter over Scott Tolzien on Tuesday, he did say Flynn took “the starter’s reps” in practice.
Rodgers, meanwhile, spent Tuesday’s practice taking snaps from
practice-squad center Garth Gerhart and doing only the individual drills. He also said he “ran around and did a couple (other) things, but nothing exciting” after the remainder of practice was closed to reporters.
“I felt like I was back on the team today. I felt like I was an actual football player,” Rodgers said of practicing. “It was fun. It was fun to be back out there with the guys. It was a walkthrough-tempo type of practice so I felt that was something I could manage. It’s good to put my helmet back on and feel like I was part of the team.”
Physically, Rodgers reiterated that he has no pain in his collarbone, including when he throws a football. But there’s more to the decision to return than just pain management, he said.
“The issues – which people probably don’t understand, they think, ‘Oh, he has no pain, why doesn’t he play?’ – (are) not that simple,” Rodgers said.
“There’s obviously risk-management and then here’s the flexibility and the strength, which are two other components of this injury that have to be where I want them to be in order to play. The flexibility and the strength have been the last to come and we’ll go from there.
“We’re 22 days out from the injury today. Expectations have been high, and I’ve obviously been trying to push it as much as has been reasonable, but it’s a waiting game with broken bones and obviously it doesn’t just affect the bone, it affects the muscles around it and range of motion and the strength you have on that left side and in that shoulder. Obviously I know I’m a right-handed quarterback, but I still need to be able to have strength in that arm.”
Asked if team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie has cleared him to play in a game yet, Rodgers replied, “No.” Rodgers also wouldn’t say whether he’s had any further x-rays or CT scans done on the collarbone.
Rodgers did acknowledge that both McCarthy and McKenzie have some role in making sure he doesn’t push himself too far too soon. At the same time, Rodgers insisted that he knows his limits.
“I respect their opinion, so I obviously listen to them and take all that into account, but I think we’ve come to some agreements during my years as a player and a starter where we might not all agree that it’s right to play, but we agree that the risk is low enough that if I feel good enough to play, I can play,” Rodgers said. “I think that’s kind of the way that we operate. I trust Mike to kind of save me from myself at times, and Doc to be the voice of reason.
“But I know my body better than anybody and it’s just a matter of combining the strength, the flexibility, the lack of pain and the low-risk. And when all those align, then I’ll be back on the field.”
