Love Replaces Injured Rodgers at Philadelphia

Aaron Rodgers suffered injured ribs during the second and third quarters on Sunday night at the Eagles. Jordan Love came off the bench and threw a touchdown pass.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Aaron Rodgers out with what was called an oblique injury, Jordan Love played the final 11 minutes for the Green Bay Packers' 40-33 loss at the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.

Green Bay trailed 27-20 at halftime and got the ball coming out of halftime. On the opening third down, Rodgers was sacked. That aggravated an injury initially sustained in the second quarter. On the side, he was checked out by trainers, then returned for the next possession with the Packers trailing 34-20.

Rodgers helped the Packers to a field goal to cut the deficit to 34-23. As he walked off the field, he exchanged fist-bumps with coach Matt LaFleur. After Mason Crosby kicked the chip-shot field goal, Rodgers jogged to the locker room. When the NBC cameras spotted him about 10 minutes later, it was without his uniform.

Rodgers said the injury was to his ribs, not the oblique.

Without knowing the severity of the injury, it’s fair to wonder if Rodgers will play again this season. And, with his 39th birthday less than a week away, it’s fair to wonder if Rodgers will throw another pass in his legendary career. If so, Rodgers’ final pass will be a wayward flick into the flat to AJ Dillon.

Love made some quick magic. After a completion in the flat to Dillon and a third-and-5 conversion to Allen Lazard, Love ripped a post to Christian Watson, who caught the ball near midfield and outran two Eagles defensive backs for a 63-yard touchdown.

Rodgers was 11-of-16 for 140 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in three quarters. In relief, Love was 6-of-9 for 113 yards and one touchdown. His passer rating was 146.8.

Love was sharp. Perhaps his best ball was an incompletion, a bullet to the sideline that Aaron Jones dropped in the hole in Philadelphia’s zone defense.

Love was the Packers’ first-round pick in 2020. He’s been given meaningful playing time in two games: a loss in his only career start at Kansas City last season and a loss in relief of Rodgers at Detroit in the final game of last season. In that limited action, Love threw only one fewer interception than Rodgers despite throwing 469 fewer passes and had as many turnovers while playing less than 12 percent of the snaps.

In Year 3, the Packers had a good feel for his progress.

“I think we see it every day so we’ve got a pretty good indication,” coach Matt LaFleur said before the Dallas game. “There’s nothing like getting in the game and getting those live reps, but he continues to show improvement on a daily basis.”