Not quite a month after he suffered a sprained left knee in a season-opening win over the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is looking healthy again, the Detroit Lions insist.
"He looks really good to me," Lions coach Matt Patricia said on a conference call Tuesday. "He looks like he is moving around just fine. I think you can see it in his play. I think he's probably in a position where he feels like he can do everything and maybe they were trying to limit him a little bit, but he doesn't look like he's limited at all so I'm sure he'll be ready to go."
Rodgers injured his knee in the first half of a Week 1 win, but returned after a brief absence to lead the Packers to a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback.
He threw for 281 adrenaline-fueled yards in a Week 2 tie against the Minnesota Vikings, and was clearly not himself the following week in a loss to Washington.
Last week, Rodgers threw for 298 yards and a touchdown and scrambled five times for 31 yards in a 22-0 shutout of the Buffalo Bills. He practiced during the week for the first time since suffering the injury, and said after the game he felt "tremendously better."
"He's an extremely athletic player," Patricia said. "Even if you go back to the Washington game where you can say he wasn't moving as well, but he still scrambled and ran for first downs on third down and no one could catch him. So this guy is very, very dangerous when he's out in space. This guy can make and create a lot of plays, not only with his arms but with his legs."
Lions defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni said it's important the Lions keep Rodgers in the pocket Sunday because he's one of the best in the NFL at extending plays with his mobility.
"I know that he was hurt in the first game against the Chicago Bears, but as you evaluate the film, especially last week's film against Buffalo, he's moving extremely well," Pasqualoni said. "He's playing at a very, very high level. He's running the ball. He's doing everything that he's always done and he's doing it very well. So I think we have to be prepared for Aaron Rodgers to come in here, we got to be prepared for his best shot cause that's what we'll expect to get."
