PITTSBURGH -- There's a chance that the Pittsburgh Steelers could start their 41-year-old quarterback in Week 12 against the Chicago Bears. Aaron Rodgers suffered a fracture non-throwing wrist, which knocked him out of the team's Week 11 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Rodgers is set to miss practice for the Steelers, but their head coach refused to rule him out entirely for the upcoming contest. According to one insider, Rodgers has a chance to start this weekend. If he does, expect the veteran to be under close watch.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac appeared on The Rich Eisen Show recently to discuss the injury to Rodgers and where the Steelers are at because of it. He predicted that
"What could happen," he speculated. "Is that he will start the game and they will see how it's going. How is he performing? Is it a problem in terms of functionality and how effective he can be? And then they can weigh it that way going forward."
The thing on everyone's minds as the Steelers prepare to take on the Bears is, how could Rodgers miss this game? The future Hall of Fame quarterback has owned the city of Chicago in his career, even going so far as to tell the crowd that himself in 2021 while with the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears are perhaps the greatest foe in Aaron Rodgers' career. He is going to do everything in his power to play and find one last way to beat the team he's loved to terrorize over his career. Over his 21 seasons in the NFL, he's compiled a record of 24-5 against Chicago, and the Steelers know he desperately wants to reach win number 25.
If Rodgers can't play, the Steelers are confident in 30-year-old backup Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard as their options in Week 12. Rudolph is expected to practice with the first team as they begin their preparations for Chicago, but Tomlin also left the door open for the first-year QB to take some snaps with the top unit.
And that all depends on Rodgers' progress over the coming days. Tomlin, Dulac and Eisen all made mention of pain tolerance not being an issue for the quarterback. The main concern is how durable is Rodgers' wrist on just a week of rest and can he properly protect himself if tackled? As they await those decisions, it might be the most likely option that the Steelers start their injured 41-year-old quarterback in a must-win game against the Bears.
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