Aaron Rodgers is undoubtedly one of the best players in the NFL today, acting as the guide force behind a Green Bay Packers team who is consistently in the conversation to be a threat in the NFC. However, things took a sour turn for Rodgers and, by association, many members of Cheese Head nation when he went down with a collarbone injury after taking a big hit in a game against the Minnesota Vikings. This turn of events was supposed to keep him out for the rest of the regular season but, as ESPN's Adam Schefter noted during a recent panel discussion, the QB could be back throwing sooner than most would've anticipated.
Schefter says that doctors will allow Rodgers to resume throwing in six weeks, which means that the team has placed him on the IR list. That distinction will keep him out until Decomber 17th at the earliest, when he could return to game action to face the Carolina Panthers. Assuming this is what he'll do, he'll have two other games after that to help the Packers make a late-season postseason push. December 23rd would see Rodgers revisit the Minnesota Vikings defense that injured him in the first place, and then Green Bay would travel to Detroit to face the Lions of New Year's Eve. There's no telling whether or not the Packers can make a case for the NFC North title or, at minimum, a wild card spot, but if they're still in the running come early December, that would almost certainly mean a return to action for Rodgers.
However, if Green Bay is on the outside looking in where the playoffs are concerned this year, Schefter implied that the team may not risk another injury to their star quarterback and wait out the rest of the regular season in order to regroup and come back stronger with Rodgers at the helm next season. Injuries always sway the outcome of games in professional sports, particularly in the NFL, where losses in man games are common for nearly every team. However, this news should give Packers fans at least a glimmer of hope in what was thought to be a dark time in their current NFL campaign.