Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers confirmed this week that he’s been playing half of the season with a broken thumb.
Rodgers said surgery isn’t needed and isn’t an option after the season.
To his credit, Rodgers isn’t leaning on the thumb injury as an excuse.
The reality, though, is that Rodgers hasn’t been the same quarterback since injuring his thumb in the Packers’ week five loss to the New York Giants.
Aaron Rodgers confirmed today his right thumb has been broken since Week 5, when the injury happened on the last play in London.
Here he is talking about it for a bit. Surgery has never been a thought and it won’t be after the season, either, he said. pic.twitter.com/FbbMOkXYtc
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) November 23, 2022
Green Bay is 1-5 since Rodgers’ injury. The worst of those losses was the 27-10 loss against the New York Jets, which came the week after Rodgers’ injury.
There’s been a clear decline in Rodgers’ play since the injury, which has undoubtedly contributed to the Packers’ 1-5 record during that stretch.
Again, I’ll give Rodgers credit for not leaning on the broken thumb as an excuse for Green Bay’s struggles this season.
But it’s clearly the reason why the Packers are 4-7 and unlikely to make the playoffs. Green Bay was 3-1 before the injury.
Since Aaron Rodgers broke throwing thumb on final play vs NYG, it’s easy to set line of demarcation this season.
Five games without broken thumb: 114-168 (67%), 231.4 ypg, 8 TD, 3 INT, 95.7 rating
Six games with broken thumb: 129-208 (62%), 230.8 ypg, 11 TD, 4 INT, 91.1 rating
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) November 23, 2022
They lost the game where he was injured and they’re 1-5 in the six games since the injury. The evidence shows that the injury is the reason for the Packers’ struggles.
That should be the narrative of this season. Not that Rodgers is washed, not that the wide receivers are terrible (though that situation could be better), and not that Rodgers and Matt LaFleur don’t get along. The real story is that Green Bay’s MVP quarterback isn’t healthy.
It’s unfortunate that this is essentially a “throwaway season” for the Packers. They don’t have many years with Rodgers left.
But they’re going to have to do their best to finish this season strong, continue to develop the chemistry between Rodgers and the young wide receivers, and just move on to 2023.
Green Bay is going to be fine. They just ran into some bad luck this season. It’s pro sports. It happens.
