GREEN BAY — Aaron Rodgers clearly wants to play, but Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy said early Friday morning that he doesn't know if his quarterback will be cleared to face the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 8 at Lambeau Field.
McCarthy, speaking in the wake of his team's embarrassing 40-10 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, has watched his team go a disappointing 0-4-1 since Rodgers broke his left collarbone on the opening series of the team's Nov. 4 loss to the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.
The Packers have four games remaining: Against the Falcons on Dec. 8, at Dallas on Dec. 15, against the Pittsburgh Steelers Dec. 22 and at Chicago Dec. 29.
"I don't know that," McCarthy replied when asked if there was a chance Rodgers would play against the Falcons. "I just know when we came off the field Wednesday that he wasn't ready to play yet. So we'll see how the testing goes.
"But it needs to be the right thing. I know he wants to play, I know he's trying to gear up each and every week to play. But we'll see what happens next week."
The Packers players have Friday, Saturday and Sunday for the Thanksgiving weekend. They will also be off Tuesday and will return to full-fledged practice on Wednesday.
Rodgers, in an iMessage after the game Thursday, wrote, "We've got 10 days until the Atlanta game. That should be long enough."
Rodgers has spent the last four games on the sideline wearing a headset that taps into the coaches' communication. He appears to have reached his breaking point, having shown his frustration on the sideline late during the Packers' loss, throwing his clipboard at one point.
On his weekly radio show on 540 ESPN and ESPNWisconsin.com on Tuesday, Rodgers said the healing of the bone is not the only factor in when he will return.
"Expectations have been high, and I've obviously been trying to push it as much as has been reasonable,' Rodgers said. "But it's a waiting game with broken bones and obviously it doesn't just affect the bone, it affects the muscles around it and range of motion and the strength you have on that left side and in that shoulder. Obviously I know I'm a right-handed quarterback, but I still need to be able to have strength in that arm."
Meanwhile, McCarthy was asked about running back Johnathan Franklin, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve Saturday after suffering a concussion against Minnesota on the opening kickoff last Sunday. In the locker room after the game, Franklin said that he was placed on IR because of the concussion, not because of any neck injury. He had been listed on the injury report as having both a concussion and a neck injury.
Asked Friday morning if Franklin was placed on IR because of the neck injury, McCarthy replied, "Yes."
Jason Wilde wrote: