GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Nearly three full games without Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback have resulted in three losses for the Green Bay Packers. While that's not too surprising of a result for anyone familiar with Rodgers' impressive body of work and his overall importance to the team, the former NFL Most Valuable Player doesn't want his absence to be an excuse for the Packers to fall apart.
"I think this is a team sport and guys need to pick up the slack," Rodgers said. "Whether it's myself being down, or Clay (Matthews) has been out. Last year, we had a number of injuries where guys stepped up. The Super Bowl year we had a number of guys on the injured reserve list.
"Obviously when you touch the ball on every play it might have a different significance. But the guys have to pick up the slack and we need to win these games."
Green Bay had a 5-2 record when Rodgers broke his collarbone on the opening drive against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 4. Before Rodgers' injury, it seemed like a fifth consecutive playoff appearance for the Packers was inevitable. Green Bay has since found out what many believed to be true all along: Wins are just a lot more difficult for the Packers to come by when Rodgers isn't on the field.
Rodgers has admitted that the typical timeline for a broken collarbone is 6-to-8 weeks, and it has not even been three weeks since the injury occurred. But it didn't take seeing Green Bay's struggles to make Rodgers want to get back as soon as possible.
"There's been urgency since I was in the locker room trying to get my pads back on to go back out against Chicago," Rodgers said. "It's a tough injury to deal with because it's not like you can tough through this or gut it out, which I've done with various other injuries throughout my career. It is difficult, but you just have to trust the process and hope it heals quicker than some people think."
Rodgers hasn't had any recent X-rays to determine how well the bone is healing. With the division-rival Minnesota Vikings traveling to Lambeau Field this weekend and then the Packers playing in Detroit on Thanksgiving, Rodgers has a plan in place to figure out how he'll know when he's close to game ready again.
"In order to play, I'm going to need to be on the field two days before the game, so that's Friday of this week or Tuesday of next week," Rodgers said. "Obviously, limited to zero participation (in Wednesday's practice) depending on what you consider coaching tips, so just waiting the waiting game and see what happens."
With Rodgers unavailable, Green Bay initially turned to Seneca Wallace. However, Wallace's role as the starting quarterback only lasted one series before he suffered a season-ending groin injury. The next man up was Scott Tolzien, who had been called up from the practice squad a week earlier.
Coach Mike McCarthy has been impressed with Tolzien for the most part, particularly on long passing plays. The problem has been that, while Rodgers rarely throws interceptions, Tolzien has five of them in two games.
"I'm proud of Scott and the way he's stepped in, especially his first action when he took just a few reps that week and stepped in and threw for almost 300 yards last week," Rodgers said. "You know, he hit a lot of deep throws. Obviously, you'd like to have a couple throws back from that game, but that's typical. We always strive to be perfect. He's learning on the fly. It's a quick experience for him being thrown out there. His preparation has been very good, his approach. And I think he's primed to have a good week."
The Packers definitely need Tolzien to have a good week. More importantly, the team needs its star quarterback to get healthy, and Rodgers can't wait for that moment to come. In the meantime, though, Green Bay needs to stay afloat without Rodgers so that his likely return in a couple weeks can still matter.
"It's disappointing because I care about it so much," Rodgers said. "I love being out there with the guys. This is why football is a team sport; it's about the other 52 guys on the active roster and guys picking up the slack. We've dealt with injuries around here for a long time; it's a next-man-up mentality. It's tough to not be out there obviously, because I love playing. I'm just trying to help out as much as I can."
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