EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Aaron Rodgers trudged out of the visitors’ locker room at MetLife Stadium with his knit winter hat pulled low, his customary post-game PB&J sandwich in his right hand and his upper lip, mustachioed as it has been all month, stiff. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. The look on his face said plenty.

The only thing the Green Bay Packers quarterback hates more than losing is not having a chance to do something about it, and that was the case again Sunday. You didn’t have to be a mind reader to have a pretty good idea what he must’ve been thinking as he stood on the sideline watching his team’s 27-13 loss to the New York Giants unfold.

I need to get back out there.

That’s what has to be going through his mind. Right?

There are a handful of players who know Rodgers well enough to potenially know the answer to that. Jordy Nelson. A.J. Hawk. Matt Flynn. John Kuhn. Clay Matthews.

“I don’t know him,” Matthews said as he followed Rodgers out of the locker room. “He’s like Batman.”

But Matthews knows this much: Rodgers will spend his week trying to convince the Packers’ medical staff that he’s healthy enough to play next Sunday against Minnesota, that his broken left collarbone has sufficiently healed so he can play, perhaps with additional makeshift protection beneath his shoulder pad.

He may not win that argument, but he will make his case. The way Matthews, who missed four games with a broken thumb, figures it, Rodgers believes the Packers’ season depends on it – no disrespect to backup Scott Tolzien or his teammates.

“Listen: You know Aaron. You know how competitive he is. He’s like a linebacker playing quarterback. That’s just his competitive nature,” Matthews said as stadium workers bustled past him in the hallway outside the locker room. “It’s like me sitting out with a broken thumb. Just because I can’t play, it doesn’t make it any easier sitting on the sideline. I came back last week, and you saw that stump on my hand. It’s no different (in his mind).

“But we need to be a little smarter with him. Not just because of his title as a franchise quarterback, but the fact that it’s a tricky injury. I mean, you get hit once and go down once awkwardly and the season’s over."

It might be over without him.

....

Wilde  wrote:

He DOESN'T have to get out there.

The defense just has to know who they're supposed to be covering.

And the offense needs to cut Tolzien loose and let him chuck it. Formula for success.

Originally Posted by: nerdmann 

Easier said the done. This defense is likely going to be average at best, and often suck for the rest of this season. Status quo.

Originally Posted by: DoddPower 

Oddly enough, one of the heroes in NY was Jairus Byrd, a Safety we really, really could have used. Only problem was we didn't trade for him, and he played the hero for the Bills… TWO picks and a sack yesterday against the Jets.

I really wish we had added a Safety alongside Morgan Burnett. A good one.

Originally Posted by: play2win 

I don't think we need a safety alongside Burnett. We need one behind him. We need a FS. Seems like we are playing with two SS on the field.

Originally Posted by: PackFanWithTwins