by ldh2013 » Tue Jun 14, 2016 8:35 am
GREEN BAY, Wis. . -- Aaron Rodgers has been cleared to return from a left collarbone injury, just in time to start Sunday for the Packers against the Chicago Bears in a game to decide the NFC North title. With no advance warning and little fanfare, the franchise quarterback received the long-awaited good news at the same time as the rest of his teammates Thursday. "This is a fun day for me, but I think the focus needs to be on this game and the opportunity we have to win the division," Rodgers said. Soon enough. But the spotlight for now is squarely on the return of one of the NFLs most irreplaceable players. Green Bay (7-7-1) is 2-5-1 since Rodgers went down during the first series of a 27-20 loss Nov. 4 to Chicago. The Packers have managed to hang on, with a shot to win a third straight division title with a victory Sunday at Soldier Field. "Ill start with the announcement that were preparing for the Chicago Bears with Aaron Rodgers as our starting quarterback," coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Thursday after practice. Win and Green Bay returns to Lambeau Field the following weekend to host a wild-card team in the first round of the playoffs. "Were in it. You know we have a chance against our rivals, and what a better way than to go down there and get some redemption and host a home playoff game," Rodgers said. The last two months have been filled with angst for Packers fans. Discussions about whether Rodgers should risk future injury or return to bolster Green Bays playoff chances have filled sports talk radio shows and holiday office parties. Now imagine what it was like for the Packers brass and team doctor. The organization made a big investment in Rodgers this past off-season, signing him to a five-year contract extension through the 2019 season worth as much as $110 million. "Every football player that plays in this game Sunday will have risk. I think we all understand that," McCarthy said. "So weve done our due diligence. Weve gone through all the evaluations and we feel it is time. Aaron is ready to play." Finally at 8:05 a.m. Thursday, McCarthy gave the official word at a team meeting. No rousing speeches or rounds of applause. "The scene? We were sitting in the team room and he told us," Rodgers said matter-of-factly. "That was the scene." Rodgers is returning just when pass-rushing linebacker Clay Matthews is leaving the lineup again with a right thumb injury. Green Bay also has gone the majority of the season without tight end Jermichael Finley (neck). Projected starting left tackle Bryan Bulaga went down in training camp. Defensive end Johnny Jolly (shoulder/neck) was the latest Packer to get knocked out for the year last week. Still, the Packers managed to start 5-2 despite the injuries with Rodgers leading the offence. Things changed drastically after the 2011 NFL MVP got hurt on a sack while scrambling out of the pocket in the Week 9 loss to Chicago at Lambeau Field. The Packers went on a five-game winless skid, shuffling through three more starting quarterbacks. Green Bay then won two straight with backup Matt Flynn before falling 38-31 last week to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Losses by Chicago and the Detroit Lions set up the winner-take-all finale Sunday with the Bears for the division. Rodgers impending return wasnt the only good injury news Thursday in Titletown. Rookie running back Eddie Lacy was held out of practice with a lingering ankle injury, though McCarthy expects his 1,100-yard rusher to play Sunday. Playmaking receiver Randall Cobb, out since Week 6 with a leg injury, is moving well in practice and appears to be getting closer to returning. While he wont make the final call, Cobb said "This week in practice Im going out and preparing to play." And now with Rodgers back, positive vibes are reverberating through the locker room. Rodgers has gained added perspective from having to watch from the sideline with a headset. Hes been there to help Flynn. He understands that every move he makes in Chicago will be dissected by armchair quarterbacks. "Its easy to talk about it with you guys and understand the risks," he said. "But when youre out on the field, its about performing and playing and not worrying about it." . Then, just as her testimony was about to finish, she broke down in tears at what she said was the memory of the screams she heard on the night that the double-amputee athlete fatally shot his girlfriend in his South African home. . -- Lakers forward Pau Gasol has won the J. . The Dutch legend captured her second gold medal in the 3,000 metres on Sunday to go with the gold she won in 2006 in Turin. (Sports Network) - The Indiana Pacers have fallen on hard times and will try to stop a five-game losing streak tonight in the continuation of a three-game road trip against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Indiana started 7-1 under head coach Frank Vogel, but has gone 3-9 since to fall to 10-10 with its new sideline boss. Vogels club is coming off a 101-75 demolition at Minnesota on Wednesday, as the Timberwolves sealed the win with a 23-7 run. Tyler Hansbrough posted 21 points and 10 rebounds and Danny Granger had poor night from the field, scoring just 10 points on 2-of-19 shooting, including an 0-for-9 clip from three-point range. A.J. Price had 13 points off the bench for the Pacers, who are still a game ahead of Charlotte for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Youre going to have those nights where unfortunately we didnt make some shots, Hansbrough said. Our defense didnt step up and make stops. The Pacers will also visit New York on the road trip and are only 10-22 away from Conseco Fieldhouse this season. They have lost four straight road games. Toronto, meanwhile, will resume a three-game homestand Friday and is cooming off its third straight loss, a 96-94 setback to the Utah Jazz Wednesday night. . Al Jeffersons tip-in at the buzzer lifted the Jazz to victory and sent the Raptors to their 10th loss in 13 tries. Everybodys going for it and everyones in, hes just bigger, Toronto head coach Jay Triano said of the 6-foot-10 Jefferson. DeMar DeRozan scored 17 points, Sonny Weems had 16 and Jose Calderon ended with 14 points for the Raptors, who are 12-21 at the ACC this season and will also host Charlotte on the residency. Reggie Evans returned to action and posted two points and a game-best 11 rebounds. Evans played for the first time since Nov. 26 because of right foot surgery, missing 47 games. Andrea Bargnani missed Wednesdays game with flu-like symptoms and Amir Johnson left the game with an ankle injury. Johnson is doubtful for tonight, while Bargnani and Calderon (calf) are both listed as probable. Leandro Barbosa is probable as well with a sore back. Indiana has defeated Toronto twice this season and has won three in a row and five of the past seven meetings. The Raptors, however, have won the previous four matchups up north. ' ' '
