Aaron Rodgers avoids hamstring injury, regains some mobility vs Redskins

-- There was a looming, manufactured concern throughout the week that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers would only further hinder himself if he continued playing on his injured knee.

But on Sunday, Rodgers looked at ease -- for the most part -- with how he managed the injury originally sustained earlier this month against the Chicago Bears. Two weeks later, Rodgers has shown relatively no issues compensating for his injury against the Washington Redskins.

Rodgers scrambled out of the pocket multiple times, threw while on the run and even ran for a first down. One other first down was negated due to a penalty.

There was one point late in the game where Rodgers escaped a would-be sack and grabbed the back of his left leg, immediately leading to speculation that it was now a hamstring injury plaguing Rodgers.

However, the star quarterback adamantly denied that he didn't suffer any hamstring injury that would've nastily paired with his already-nagging left knee sprain.

"I gotta play better, and we gotta make the plays when we have the opportunities," Rodgers said after the 31-17 loss. The field conditions were slippery due to the murky, rainy weather that lingered throughout the afternoon, but he managed to throw for 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

That led to a couple of drops from receiver Randall Cobb and another from Davante Adams in the first quarter on a throw that was well behind him, but still catchable.

Still, poor field conditions weren't going to hold Rodgers back from starting regardless of his injury or its significance.

"The conditions didn’t play into me deciding to play," Rodgers said. "It was how I felt physically. I practiced Saturday, felt similar to how I felt last week and can play."

Much like last week leading into their game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers didn't allow Rodgers to practice all week until the team's light walkthroughs on the Saturday prior to their game.

Coach Mike McCarthy said following the loss that Rodgers moved out of the pocket more than he'd like, but if anything, it showed that the Packers have a little more flexibility in what they want to run offensively while Rodgers gets his knee back to full strength. That isn't to say this isn't something that could stick around for the foreseeable future.

The Packers have now lost in Washington to the Redskins three times since 2010. Their last road loss there came in 1979.

"We’d love to play the 'if, and, or but' game, but we had some opportunities," said Rodgers. "It didn't come down to a couple plays. I missed a couple throws I usually hit in some circumstances.

"We're a W.I.P. on offense. Gotta keep finding ways to get Davante [Adams] more attempts and Jimmy [Graham] involved. We gotta find a run game too because we have three talented backs."

Rodgers said he was "a little banged up" after the loss, however, expects to start next week against the Buffalo Bills.

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Zachary Jacobson is a staff writer/reporter for Cheesehead TV. He's the voice of The Leap on iTunes and can be heard on The Scoop KLGR 1490 AM every Saturday morning. He's also a contributor on the Pack-A-Day Podcast. He can be found on Twitter via @ZachAJacobson or contacted through email at [email protected].

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Comments (6)

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Lphill's picture

September 23, 2018 at 06:07 pm

Aaron also wanted to say we need a new head coach because MM sucks but held back.

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stockholder's picture

September 23, 2018 at 08:40 pm

I find it hard to fire MM yet. Were all bitching about the Refs. They are changing the games. We have the highest paid QB in the NFL. It's his job to get this offense going. The play calling was good this week. The running backs were very good. Forced to pass, the holding calls changed the game plan. The safeties are in flux. Burnett wasn't the answer. Was Hyde? Jones should be that guy now. He didn't play. So what's with Dix? The 3-4-4 depends on safety play. The safeties just are not helping!!! The defense has had the same holes since the loss of Raji,Bishop,Wilkins,Woodson, and Collins. I for one thought Petine would go with a 5 man line. There's no reason not to leave CMIII and Martinez in the middle full time. Until we get the safeties playing proper defense. More DLs will go down. CMII should start the games in the middle. Then move him around.

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SpudRapids's picture

September 24, 2018 at 09:11 am

I'm with you stockholder... dropped passes and holding penalties (which were the bulk of the miscues) are physical mistakes not coaching. Each of these players has been coached not to hold and to catch the ball. Teams are going to have off days and yesterday was one. If anything I want to point out the coaching of Pettine. The half time adjustments on D worked to the tune of only giving up a field goal in garbage time. He is definitely a major improvement over Dom in that sense. If the offense doesn't continually shoot itself in the foot there is a good chance they can come back and win that game. At least we weren't the Vikings... they didn't even show up to play and on top of that it was at home.

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sardog's picture

September 23, 2018 at 06:32 pm

The only reason Rodgers played against the Redskins was to one up Alex Smith being the #1 draft pick to Rodgers home team SF. I truly believe Rodgers didn't want the run game. Rodgers will probably sit the next few weeks to heal. What is even worse is the Bears now lead the NFC North. What a way to start the season. I haven't given up YET...

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TKWorldWide's picture

September 23, 2018 at 08:35 pm

Oliver Stone-esque.

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Royalty Free GM's picture

September 24, 2018 at 04:43 pm

Green Bay Rodgers.

He is a TOUGH MAN!
He plays hurt... he even wins playoff games playing hurt. A truly legend.
Pay him $158,156,345 a year!
Others are just useless leeches... including MM, gute, Murphy.

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