GREEN BAY — Mike McCarthy isn't ruling Aaron Rodgers out of Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game at Detroit, but the Green Bay Packers coach said Monday that the odds of his quarterback playing are "slim to none."
To make things more complicated, McCarthy isn't sure whether he'll go with Matt Flynn, who rallied the team from a 16-point deficit to a 26-26 tie with the Minnesota Vikings, or Scott Tolzien, who started the past two games but was benched with 8 minutes 22 seconds left in the third quarter with the offense in search of a spark.
Rodgers, who suffered a broken left collarbone Nov. 4 against Chicago, has not played since. Including their 27-20 loss to the Bears, in which veteran Seneca Wallace took over for the injured Rodgers, the Packers are 0-3-1 without their star.
"(I) had a meeting with Aaron. He would like to go (against the Lions)," McCarthy said Monday afternoon. "Frankly, based on the information where we are as far as the conversation with Aaron, the conversation with the medical staff, I would say he's slim to none, to give you what I'm thinking. That's where we are."
McCarthy said Rodgers has undergone testing but refused to elaborate.
After Rodgers went down against the Bears, McCarthy didn't immediately rule Rodgers out for the following week's game against Philadelphia, saying, "Let's not kid ourselves, if he walked in your office and asked for the ball on Saturday, what would you do?"
When reminded of that quote Monday, McCarthy replied, "Well, it's more than that. Let's be honest, he's got to practice. There's some physical rehab hurdles to get through that he hasn't reached yet. Like I said, it would be a huge stretch for him to play in this game."
McCarthy said Rodgers would have to practice on Wednesday, before the team departs for Detroit, to have any chance of playing Thursday at Ford Field.
Jason Wilde  wrote: