Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers missed Wednesday’s practice with thumb and rib injuries, while Chicago Bears counterpart Justin Fields was limited as he deals with a separated non-throwing shoulder.
Will the pair oppose one another Sunday in Chicago as they did during the Packers’ 27-10 home romp in Week 2?
Things look to be trending that way, but it may not be official until shortly before kickoff at Soldier Field.
What is certain: the Packers (4-8) and Bears (3-9) are reeling as they renew the NFL’s most-contested rivalry.
Green Bay has lost seven of eight, while Chicago enters on a five-game skid, including three losses by one possession.
Given the Packers’ success with Rodgers under center over the past decade-plus, it’s the rare meeting between the teams in which there’s more at stake with draft positioning than playoff seeding.
Still, Green Bay is harboring slim postseason hopes, as well, needing to win out while hoping for help.
“I think we’re always trying to develop and look for opportunities to get some guys in there that you might not know about, but I think right now the focus is 100 percent on winning this football game and doing whatever it takes,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
The Packers have won the past seven games in the series. Their bid to extend the run to eight figures to include Rodgers, as LaFleur said his expectation is for Rodgers to play in Week 13.
Rodgers left in the third quarter of the team’s 40-33 loss at Philadelphia last week with injured ribs. Rodgers, who already had been playing with a broken thumb, said he struggled to breathe and move his upper body.
While the Packers scored in the 30s for just the second time this season, it wasn’t enough as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts rushed for 157 yards while throwing for 153 more and two touchdowns.
If healthy, Fields, a developing dual threat who rushed for 410 yards from Weeks 9-11, surely would present matchup nightmares for a scuffling Packers defense. Fields has recorded both a passing and rushing touchdown in five straight games, but missed last week’s loss to the New York Jets.
“We’d be foolish not to plan for Justin,” LaFleur said. “Because if you don’t, you will get gutted. That quarterback run game they have is pretty spectacular, and it doesn’t even always show up just in the run game, but just on his ability to drop back and if nothing is there to find a window and an escape lane and make you pay in that regard.”
Fields said he is “feeling better each and every day.”
Bears coach Matt Eberflus announced Wednesday that safety Eddie Jackson (foot) would miss the rest of the season. He was among several Bears injured in the Jets game.
Injuries to offensive linemen Riley Reiff (back) and Larry Borom (ankle/knee) may create an opening for right tackle Alex Leatherwood to make his first start as a Bear.
“We are excited and intrigued to see where it goes because he is a heck of an athlete at that position and we’ll see where it goes from there,” Eberflus said.
–Field Level Media
