Providence, R.I. - Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been ruled out of Sunday's game and backup Matt Flynn will start against the New England Patriots Sunday, a club spokesman said when reached by telephone this morning.
The Packers took a very cautious approach with Rodgers this week following his second concussion of the season, the latter of which he suffered against Detroit last Sunday. Rodgers did not practice all week, took part only in a brief amount of meeting time Friday and was a long shot to play.
Team doctors did not clear him to play. Rodgers never made it that far in the evaluation stages, but will continue to take part in the recovery process until he's cleared. unless he was completely clear of symptoms and cleared by an independent neurologist, he would not be allowed to play.
Coach Mike McCarthy declared early this week that he would leave it up to the medical staff to decide on whether Rodgers was healthy enough to start. Rodgers went through a strict evaluation process aimed at determining whether he would be subject to further injury if he played Sunday.
The Packers proceeded very cautiously with Rodgers, and while he had not been ruled out as of Friday, it was fairly clear the club wasn't going to put him on the field just because it was going up against the 11-2 Patriots. He took part in some tests Friday, but it doesn't appear he did much physically.
The spokesman said that Rodgers would accompany the team to New England. It's likely he'll be available on the sideline to help Flynn.
With Rodgers out, Flynn will make his first career start. He replaced Rodgers late in the first half of the Packers' 7-3 loss to the Lions and completed 15 of 26 passes for 177 yards with one interception. Flynn received all of the snaps in practice this week and the offense has been tailored slightly to fit his strengths.
Later today, the Packers are expected to sign practice squad quarterback Graham Harrell to the 53-man roster so he can serve as Flynn's backup. Harrell has not played in an NFL regular-season game before.
Safety Anthony Smith (ankle) will be placed on injured reserve to make room for Harrell.
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