GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The specifics of the injury suffered by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is still just speculation. "A left shoulder injury" is as far as the Packers were willing to go Monday night after Rodgers left the game in the first quarter and did not return.
Broken collarbone? A sternoclavicular (SC) joint injury? Both are possibilities, but nothing will be known definitively until at least Tuesday afternoon.
"I just had a chance to speak to Aaron before he went into the training room," coach Mike McCarthy said Monday after the game. "He has a shoulder injury. They want to run more tests. They don't have an exact diagnosis."
Rodgers underwent some tests Monday night, but if there was a conclusion, the team wasn’t ready to share that information.
The severity of the different potential injuries could range anywhere from a one-week to eight-week recovery, but any of the results are unlikely to land him on injured reserve. It helps Rodgers that the injury happened to his non-throwing shoulder.
Rodgers was sacked by Chicago Bears defensive lineman Shea McClellin on Green Bay’s opening drive and landed hard on his left shoulder. Rodgers grimaced as he got off the ground.
The sack occurred on third down, so Rodgers would have gone to the sideline no matter what after the play. Rodgers tossed a few passes back and forth with backup quarterback Seneca Wallace near the bench, but that didn’t last long. Soon, Rodgers was jogging into the locker room with the Packers’ training staff.
"I knew he was in a little bit of pain, but no, we didn’t know what was going on," Wallace said.
It was initially announced in the press box that Rodgers’ return was questionable, but that was soon updated to him being out for the remainder of the game.
Rodgers re-joined his team on the Packers’ sideline with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter. He was wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants with his left arm tucked into his pocket. The Lambeau Field crowd cheered as they began to take notice of Rodgers’ walk out of the tunnel area.
"No timeline, no exact diagnosis," McCarthy said. "That’s where we’re at."
The only other injury that has taken Rodgers out of a game in his career was a concussion suffered late in the 2010 season. He also sat out the Week 17 game in 2011, but that was just for rest because Green Bay had already clinched the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
McCarthy will address the media at 4:45 p.m. CT on Tuesday and is expected to know more by then.
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