Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, was unable to participate in practice on Wednesday due to thumb and rib issues, while Justin Fields, the quarterback for the Chicago Bears, was limited because of a separated non-throwing shoulder.
Will the two face off against each other on Sunday in Chicago as they did during the Packers’ 27-10 rout at home in Week 2?
Although it appears that way, it might not be confirmed until just before Soldier Field’s opening kickoff.
What is known is that the NFL’s most contentious rivalry is back, and the Packers (4-8) and Bears (3-9) are in shambles.
Chicago enters the game with a five-game slump, including three losses by one possession, while Green Bay has dropped seven of its last eight games.
It’s a rare meeting between the teams where the importance of draft positioning over playoff seeding is more important given the dominance of the Packers with Rodgers at the helm over the past decade or more.
However, Green Bay is also holding onto tenuous postseason aspirations, needing to prevail while wishing for assistance.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said, “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% on winning this football game and doing whatever it takes.
The series’ last seven games have been won by the Packers. LaFleur stated that he anticipates Rodgers to play in Week 13 in their attempt to extend the run to eight figures.
In the third quarter of the team’s 40-33 defeat to Philadelphia last week, Rodgers exited due to rib injuries. Despite already having a broken thumb, Rodgers claimed he had trouble breathing and moving his upper body.
For only the second time this year, the Packers scored in the 30-yard range, but it wasn’t enough against the Eagles, whose quarterback Jalen Hurts rushed for 157 yards and also threw for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
Fields, a growing dual threat who gained 410 rushing yards from Weeks 9 to 11, would undoubtedly offer matchup nightmares for a struggling Packers defense if healthy. Fields has scored a touchdown both ways in five straight games, but he was absent from last week’s loss to the New York Jets.
LaFleur remarked, “We’d be stupid not to prepare for Justin. “You’ll be gutted if you don’t, after all. Their quarterback has a pretty amazing run game, and it doesn’t even always show up that way; sometimes it just depends on his ability to drop back and, if nothing else, find a window and an escape route to punish you in that way.”
Fields claimed that “every day I feel better.”
Eddie Jackson, a safety with the Bears, will miss the remainder of the season, according to coach Matt Eberflus’ announcement on Wednesday. Several Bears were hurt during the Jets game, including him.
Riley Reiff (back) and Larry Borom (ankle/knee) of the offensive line suffering from injuries may pave the door for right tackle Alex Leatherwood to make his maiden start for the Bears.
As a heck of an athlete at that position, Eberflus remarked, “We are excited and curious to see where it goes and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
