Very little information has come out since Monday morning’s insider reports about Aaron Rodgers’ wrist injury. Ian Rapoport gave him a 50-50 chance of playing this week, but Adam Schefter cautioned that surgery could force him to miss some time. Rodgers underwent further testing Monday to determine the course of action. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero offered a small update this morning.
“He suffered a small fracture in his left wrist, his non-throwing wrist…Now my understanding has been this is not believed to be anything long-term for Rodgers,” Pelissero said via Good Morning Football. “He underwent a variety of scans on Monday. The hope is that he’s not going to need surgery. Potentially can brace it up, protect it, and play as soon as this week.”
Mike Tomlin should provide a more definitive update during his Tuesday press conference at noon, but he is notoriously conservative with giving out information. I would imagine he leaves the door open and points to practice participation and the quality of work to guide their decision. Rodgers keeps a pretty tight inner circle, so information doesn’t get out very easily.
Pelissero seems to think they might be leaning toward the possibility of him playing with a brace instead of going the surgery route.
Former NFL QB Matt Hasselbeck had a very similar injury in his playing days and said playing this week is “doable” for Rodgers, albeit with quite a bit of pain. It may even affect his ability to hand the ball off, though the Steelers have opted to do a lot of toss plays anyways to mitigate the need for contact with his left wrist.
The only concern is what happens if he gets hit and lands awkwardly on that wrist again. Then we may be talking about a larger issue that requires surgery and an even longer timetable for return.
Mason Rudolph filled in admirably and has the trust and respect of the locker room. Perhaps the Steelers play it safe and give Rodgers at least one week off with the idea that Rudolph is good enough to get them a win. Though I wouldn’t discount the possiblity of Rodgers lobbying to play given the reports that he wanted to come back on the field in Week 11 after halftime.
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