"Aaron Rodgers' injury could worsen" - NFL analyst feels Packers should bench QB, instead of chasing no.1 NFC seed

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have a choice to make: Chase the number seed or rest Rodgers for the playoffs. Rodgers has been dealing with a toe injury stemming from a fracture in November while he was in quarantine due to COVID-19. With the number one seed, the Packers would have a first-round bye, and all of their playoff games would be played in Green Bay.

Green Bay is currently the number one seed in the NFC and has the best record in the NFL at 10-3. With four games left, if the Packers can hold their current tiebreaker over the Cardinals, due to their Week 8 victory over Arizona and don’t slip behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the standings, then they should still hold onto the number one seed. Whether they can do that with or without Aaron Rodgers is the real question.

NFL analysts think Packers should sit Aaron Rodgers out, instead of pursuing number 1 seed

Dominique Foxworth, an NFL analyst appearing on ESPN’s Get Up, offered his candid thoughts on the matter:

"A healthy Aaron Rodgers is more important than a first-round bye. I understand the first-round bye is important. They can still get the first-round bye if they drop another game, but no one believes that, if his toe at some point, he re-aggravates it, makes it worse."

"No one believes they have any chance. My point is none of this (the first round bye) is a guarantee. What is guaranteed is a week off for him. It’s better for him. My only point is that the longer, the more you put them out there in this condition, that his injury could worsen. If you take them off the field at one point, you could still get the one seed."

Since his injury, when he sat out during Week 9, Aaron Rodger has compiled a 3-1 record. In those 4 games, Rodgers has passed for 1,325 yards, thrown 10 touchdown passes, only 1 interception, and ran for 1 touchdown. Although he has indicated that he suffered a setback in last week’s victory over the Chicago Bears, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers may ultimately decide to chase that number one seed as long as Rodgers’s performance on the field has not suffered.

For Week 15, Green Bay heads to Baltimore to take on the 8-5 Ravens.

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