GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Maybe the sixth time will be a charm for
the Green Bay Packers without Aaron Rodgers. With their slim playoff hopes on
the line, the Packers ruled out their star quarterback for Sunday's game
against the Atlanta Falcons.
"Aaron Rodgers is not ready to go," coach Mike
McCarthy said Friday.
This will be Rodgers' fifth consecutive missed start, but
Green Bay will have played nearly six entire games without him. Rodgers
fractured his left collarbone on the final play of the first drive on Nov. 4
against the Bears. Since then, the Packers have not won a game, going 0-4-1.
"Aaron's frustrated," McCarthy said. "He's
like every other player that's fighting to get back on the field. He has a
rehab program and how he feels going through it is obviously expressed every
day. He's frustrated."
Rodgers practiced on a limited basis all week, but all of
his work was done in individual drills.
"There were three parts to it," Rodgers said
Wednesday of his recovery. "The strength, the range of motion and the
evidence that we see on the scan. Two out of three are passed so far."
The one aspect that Rodgers has not passed is the medical
scan, the latest of which was taken on Tuesday and did not reveal enough
progress on the healing of his collarbone.
With Rodgers out, Green Bay is giving Matt Flynn his second
chance as the starter. Flynn started on Thanksgiving in a 40-10 loss to the
Detroit Lions, a game in which he completed 10-of-20 passes for 139 yards with
no touchdowns and one interception.
Flynn, who's been taking the starting reps in practice all
week, said "it's easy" to forget about that Lions game.
"There's always plays that stick with you," Flynn
said. "I've forgotten about most of it. You go back and look at some
things and little things mentally you did wrong, but the execution, we know
we're better than that in the passing game as a whole. Forget about that and go
on and cut it loose this Sunday."
