The Green Bay Packers will have their franchise quarterback back under center on Sunday.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Packers are set to start Aaron Rodgers in Week 10 against the Seattle Seahawks. The 37-year-old quarterback had missed Week 9’s matchup versus the Kansas City Chiefs after testing positive for COVID-19.
The Packers will have until 4 pm ET on Saturday, November 12, to activate the 37-year-old quarterback.
“Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is back in the building and set to be activated from the COVID list and will start Sunday against the Seahawks, per sources,” says Pelissero.
And as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports, Rodgers has remained asymptomatic and has cleared the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
“Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers has remained asymptomatic from COVID-19 and has met the NFL/NFLPA return-to-play protocols, per sources,” says Schefter. “All that is left now is for the Packers to officially activate him by 4 pm ET today.”
Rodgers wasn’t at the team’s facilities physically all week. However, he had participated in meetings all week virtually, according to Pelissero. He is also expected to be at the Packers’ meetings on Saturday morning and their walkthrough prior to the game.
The Packers struggled mightily without Rodgers while second-year quarterback Jordan Love made his first start in Week 9 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Green Bay scored just seven points as they lost their first game since Week 1.
The offense mustered just 179 passing yards as Love finished with passing totals of 19-of-34 passing for 190 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a 69.5 quarterback rating.
Considering the Packers are just a game behind the Arizona Cardinals for the top seed in the NFC, the return of Rodgers against the Seahawks — who will have Russell Wilson returning from injury — is absolutely huge.
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Love Says He Was ‘Shaky’ in First Start
While Love won’t be making another start this week, he did prepare as if he would.
The second-year quarterback took first-team reps in practice all week long due to the fact that Rodgers could not physically be at the Packers’ facilities due to the NFL’s COVID-19 rules.
However, the former first-round draft pick did learn a lot from his trial run as a starting quarterback for the Packers.
Via Ryan Wood and Kassidy Hill of Packers News:
“I obviously got a lot of takeaway of what I can clean up,” Love said. “Footwork got a little shaky on some plays, and you don’t really see that until you watch it back on film and see some of the left-right balls I was throwing, I was falling off. Just some things I can clean up.”
Love’s Composure Impresses Teammate
While Love didn’t walk away with a victory in his first start — and there are clearly mechanics that he still needs to work on — he did leave a favorable impression on his teammates.
“After the game I went up to him, and I was telling him his command and composure in the huddle, there was no flinch in his eye in the huddle,” left guard Jon Runyan Jr. said. “So I was really impressed by that, and he’s not really that vocal leader, but you can tell by his presence and his demeanor, we fed off of that. So I was really impressed with Jordan and how he carried himself in that first game in a crazy environment like Arrowhead was on the road, and I think that’s going to carry him forward pretty far.”
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Packers Make Final Decision on Aaron Rodgers vs. Seahawks: Report