GREEN BAY, Wis. — One Friday he doesn’t practice. The next Friday he does. And then the next one he doesn’t. Such has been life for Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and his fractured toe.
He did not get any work in practice this week leading up to Sunday’s game at the Baltimore Ravens, but the Packers (10-3) still aren’t worried about it slowing down their offense.
“He did not do anything today other than our walk-through prior to practice,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Friday. “But as far as him playing in the game, we don’t have any concerns. Certainly, yeah, you’d love to have him get those live reps just for the timing purposes. But again, is it what it is. We’ll make the best of it, and there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll be ready to go.”
Last week, Rodgers practiced on Friday, two days before the Packers’ 45-30 win over the Chicago Bears. Before that, Rodgers didn’t practice at all leading up to their 36-28 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 28.
In fact, before he practiced last Friday, he had not taken part in a regular practice since Nov. 19, two days before their 34-31 loss at the Minnesota Vikings.
It will be at least another week before Rodgers has All-Pro left tackle David Bakhtiari back in the lineup. Despite Bakhtiari’s return to practice this week on a limited basis, the Packers have ruled him out for Sunday. He has not played in nearly a year since he tore an ACL on Dec. 31.
Right tackle Billy Turner, who suffered a knee injury against the Bears, also is out this week.
The Packers have three receivers on the injury report: Marquez Valdes-Scantling (back) and Malik Taylor (abdomen) are both questionable, while Equanimeous St. Brown (concussion) is doubtful. That’s in addition to Randall Cobb, who is on injured reserve following core muscle surgery.
The Packers also will be light on the defensive line with Pro Bowl nose tackle Kenny Clark on the reserve/COVID-19 list. LaFleur said it was unlikely that Clark could be cleared in time to play Sunday even with the NFL’s new return-to-play protocols put in place on Thursday.