It’s pretty clear at this point that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is going to miss some time after suffering a hand/wrist injury Sunday in Week 11 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
How much time he misses is still to be determined. What also needs to be determined is if the soon-to-be 42-year-old quarterback needs surgery or not.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Rodgers will undergo additional testing Monday to determine if surgery is required to help fix the wrist injury, an injury that Schefter reported Sunday night is a “slight break” in the wrist.
Appearing on SportsCenter Monday morning, Schefter had some additional reporting on Rodgers.
“Yeah, the way it was described is he’s got a quote unquote slight break in his left wrist, so there is some sort of broken bone there,” Schefter said of Rodgers, according to video via ESPN. “He’s having further testing and evaluations done today to determine whether or not he would need surgery, whether they’ll have to put a screw and a plate in there, how long he’ll be out there.
“Some questions that need to be answered today, but it certainly looks like Aaron Rodgers is gonna be missing some time for the Pittsburgh Steelers going forward.”
Rodgers suffered the injury late in the first half against the Bengals, falling hard on his left hand/wrist after throwing a pass into the back of the end zone intended for running back Kenneth Gainwell. Rodgers was under pressure on the play and went down hard. He immediately got up holding his hand/wrist, leading to a timeout.
Though Rodgers stayed in the game and threw an incomplete pass on third down, leading to the Steelers settling for a Chris Boswell field goal, the veteran quarterback ultimately exited the game at halftime, giving way to Mason Rudolph.
Rodgers never came back onto the sideline in the second half, and then was seen leaving the stadium after the game with his left hand tucked into his hoodie pocket, attempting to hide things from reporters. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio did report Sunday night that Rodgers attempted to return to the game, but the Steelers blocked him from doing so.
If there is a slight break as Schefter has reported, the hope is that the injury is not long-term and that it wouldn’t require surgery. If it’s a non-surgical fracture, Rodgers shouldn’t miss much time, which is what NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday night.
However, if surgery is required and a plate and screws is needed to stabilize things, Rodgers could miss extended time in what he stated is likely his final season in the NFL.
In place of Rodgers, Rudolph played some good football in the second half, completing 12-of-16 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown to Gainwell, who caught two touchdown passes on the afternoon. With Rodgers likely on the shelf moving forward, Rudolph would elevate into the starting role, and rookie QB Will Howard, who was just activated to the 53-man roster last Wednesday, would serve as the backup.
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