Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers Suffers Broken Collarbone, Will Undergo Surgery
The Green Bay Packers' worst fears have been realized.
The team has announced that quarterback Aaron Rodgers broke his right collarbone in the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings after he took a rough hit from linebacker Anthony Barr, and he might miss the remainder of the season.
Packers head coach Mike McCarthy has also confirmed that Rodgers would have to undergo surgery to repair the collarbone.
"Aaron Rodgers suffered a significant injury in the game. It will require surgery. He'll be out a minimum of a significant amount of time. Potentially, his season can be over. He'll have surgery here in the near future. After we see how that goes, focus on getting better and healthy — that's all that really matters right now," McCarthy said, via NFL.com.
He also believed that the hit delivered by Barr was dirty and unnecessary.
"He's out of the pocket. He's clearly expecting to get hit, but to pin him to the ground like that, I felt was an illegal act," McCarthy stated.
As expected, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer disagreed and he said it was a clean tackle.
Rodgers has broken his collarbone before back in 2013. That time, it was on the left shoulder and he missed seven games that season. However, he didn't have to go under the knife to fix the damage.
In any case, McCarthy has already noted that they would not consider bringing in a veteran quarterback. Instead, they would rely on backup quarterback Brett Hundley. The third-year pro came in to replace Rodgers in Sunday's match and he actually struggled throughout the game, but McCarthy has insisted that they were prepared to move forward with Hundley.
With Rodgers sidelined, the Packers also promoted quarterback Joe Callahan from the practice squad to the active roster. He has yet to play a snap in the National Football League (NFL).