Packers' Aaron Rodgers on Toe Injury: It's 'Not Going Away'

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday and said he doesn't expect the injury to his pinky toe will be resolved in the near future. 

That followed Rodgers telling reporters following Sunday's 34-31 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that his current injury was "a little worse than turf toe" and that his practice schedule would likely be reduced because the injury is "very, very painful."

"Went in at halftime early to get it checked out," he added Sunday. ".... Got stepped on the first half, and that kind of activated all the symptoms I was having. It's going to be another painful week and next week, and then hopefully start to feel a little better on the bye."

The Packers (8-3) face the Los Angeles Rams (7-3) in Week 12 before heading into the bye. It's a crucial matchup for the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs. 

The 37-year-old Rodgers missed a game after testing positive for COVID-19 this season, but he's largely stayed healthy throughout his career. Between the 2008 and '20 seasons, he missed just 18 games, an average of 1.4 per year. Sixteen of those missed games came in the 2013 and 2017 seasons. 

Rodgers, the defending MVP, has been solid yet again in 2021, throwing for 2,571 yards, 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions, completing 66.8 percent of his passes. The Packers are 8-2 in his starts. 

He certainly wasn't the issue on Sunday, even with his painful toe injury, throwing for 385 yards and four scores. 

"We've had a couple games like this over the years, thinking about 2012 especially, where we gotta outscore them at their place," Rodgers told reporters after the game. "We didn't do that today. But I think for us personally on offense, we gotta start faster. We gotta score touchdowns on those opening plays, so I know [head coach Matt LaFleur] will be looking at that this week and dial up some good stuff for L.A."