NFL: Aaron Rodgers suffers rib injury for Packers, Jordan Love enters at QB

The only good thing for Aaron Rodgers in this frustrating Green Bay Packers season, before Sunday, is he hadn’t missed any time due to injury.

The Packers can check Rodgers missing time with an injury off the list for their horrible season now.

Rodgers suffered an injury on Sunday night in a 40-33 defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles and it was clear he was in pain. He went to get X-rays, and Jordan Love took over at quarterback in the fourth quarter. Love, the former first-round draft pick, had played in only two games this season before Sunday night, both times in mop-up duty in blowouts.

Rodgers said after the game that it was not an oblique injury, as the team reported, but a rib injury.

Love made something happen right away. In his first drive, he hit rookie receiver Christian Watson on a crossing route and Watson turned it up the sideline for a 63-yard touchdown. That was Love’s third career touchdown pass and his first this season.

Rodgers said this week he has had a fracture in his thumb since Week 5, when he was hit on the final play in a loss to the New York Giants in London.

He was hit hard a few times on Sunday night. The NBC broadcast showed him grabbing at his side, and it was reported that the athletic training staff was checking him out. Late in the third quarter, after a drive that ended in a field goal and was very run heavy, Rodgers left the field with athletic trainers, and James Palmer of NFL Media reported he went right to the X-ray room. The team reported he had an oblique injury. The Packers trailed 34-23 at that point.

The Eagles went on a long drive after Rodgers left to the locker room, keeping the audience guessing if Rodgers would be on the field the next time the Packers got the ball. NBC showed Rodgers, without a uniform or shoulder pads on, returning to the sideline. Considering Rodgers couldn’t continue Sunday night even with the game still not out of hand for the Packers, it’s worth wondering if the injury could cost him more than just the fourth quarter Sunday night.

The Packers came into Sunday night’s game with a 4-7 record. Rodgers won the past two MVP awards but wasn’t near that level this season. Now, on top of a losing season going nowhere and his thumb injury, Rodgers has a rib injury to deal with as well.