GREEN BAY, Wis. _ Another day came and went with veritable silence on the Aaron Rodgers front. As Tuesday afternoon gave way to evening, it was anyone's guess who will line up at quarterback when the Green Bay Packers return to practice Wednesday.
Rodgers underwent a series of scans Monday to reveal the progress of his surgically repaired collarbone. The interpretation of those scans by team physician Patrick McKenzie and several outside specialists will dovetail with input from general manager Ted Thompson to determine whether the risk of further injury is worth the reward of having Rodgers for a playoff run. The coordination required to gather opinions from around the country likely has factored into the delay.
If there was any question about the value of franchise quarterbacks, and in particular elite franchise quarterbacks like Rodgers, the depth of deliberation surrounding his potential return should end the debate. And over the last 48 hours, the aforementioned brain trust has probed the conundrum from various angles.
It starts with the fairly black-and-white question of whether Rodgers' collarbone has calcified since two plates and 13 screws were inserted to stabilize the fracture eight weeks ago. Enough time has passed for the bone to heal significantly, though perhaps not entirely, and therein lies the gray area open to interpretation by the handful of medical professionals who reviewed the scans. How sturdy must his collarbone be to withstand the punishment of 300-pound defensive linemen or hard-charging linebackers?
There are also football questions that cloud the equation. At 7-6, the Packers must win their remaining three games to have a realistic shot at the playoffs, and even then they could fall short. Risking Rodgers' throwing shoulder for a run that might not happen certainly will prod the conscience of Thompson, whose conservative tendencies are well-documented in Green Bay.
And one has to wonder how the uncertainty of this week affects Brett Hundley, who would be called upon to start his eighth straight game if Rodgers isn't cleared. With Sunday's win over the Cleveland Browns came the cleansing exhale of accomplishing his primary job: keeping the Packers in the postseason hunt until Rodgers was eligible to return. Re-gathering himself emotionally to be the focal point of a playoff push is a significant mental hurdle, especially when the three teams left on the schedule have combined records of 26-13 _ a far cry from the winless Browns.
Working in Hundley's favor is the way in which he punctuated the last two weeks. The Packers needed overtime to survive each game, but Hundley orchestrated a winning drive on both occasions, bolstering his reputation for playing well in the crucial moments.
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