Aaron Rodgers's 'Covid Toe' Comment Causing More Confusion Than Clarity

Aaron Rodgers was not fully healthy upon his return from COVID-19. The Packers quarterback is dealing with a toe issue and provided some insight during this week's appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. However, other comments he made caused more confusion regarding the situation.

Last week, Rodgers denied an explanation of how he suffered a toe injury, especially given the fact that it seemed to occur while he was away from football. 

On Tuesday, during his weekly show appearance, McAfee asked about Rodgers's recovery from the COVID-19. Rodgers said, “I felt good in just a few days without any lingering effects other than the COVID toe,” with a clear smirk.

"COVID toe" is a layman's term for a condition known as pernio or chilblains, which some individuals who catch the virus develop. It involves swelling and discoloration of the toes and in some instances, "blisters, itch, or pain," per the American Academy of Dermatology Association.

“We did it, we got the f------ answer,” McAfee said, getting out of his chair. “COVID toe was something people were saying, I’m glad we got to the bottom of this. We’re journalists, we’re journalists!” 

The group went on to crack a number of jokes about Rodgers injuring his toe during MMA workouts with Joe Rogan and doing the "hokey pokey" during his COVID-19 absence.

Some outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, which published a story titled "Aaron Rodgers Doesn't Have Just Any Toe Injury. He Has COVID Toe," ran with the quote, fully taking the quarterback's word on the issue.

One major issue, besides Rodgers's well-known penchant for sarcasm, and the pretty clear tongue-in-cheek nature of the exchange with McAfee and his former Packers teammate A.J. Hawk: during another part of the interview, Rodgers described the toe issue in more detail, indicating it is a "bone" injury, which "COVID toe" is not.

“I believe that I’d mentioned that it’s more painful than turf toe, and I had turf toe years ago. The problem with turf toe is it’s that joint in your big toe, and it is very painful," Rodgers said. "So naturally if I’m leading people to understand that if it’s worse than turf toe, there must be some sort of bone issue. Again, it’s better the fifth toe than the first toe.”

Ultimately, no one besides Rodgers and his doctors can be certain of what the issue he's dealing with is, but based on the nature of the two Pat McAfee Show clips, plainly calling it "COVID toe" does not seem wise.

"There's a lot of options on the table," Rodgers said during the interview. "One option that's not on the table is sitting out. So I'm going to push through this."

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