Tom Silverstein

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

GREEN BAY — At least for the time being, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy will have to take the status of quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ sprained left knee into consideration when devising game plans.

"Time being" is the operative phrase here.

Rodgers would like there to be a time this season when the knee is not a factor in his performance, but he said Wednesday that he’s not sure if that will be the case. There are no guarantees that it won’t get worse as the season goes on.

“Yeah, obviously that’s a concern,” Rodgers said. “Hopefully, it goes the other way though.”

Rodgers will have had three full days off heading into Thursday’s practice after McCarthy called off practice Wednesday. The Packers played an overtime game in warm weather last Sunday and they’re expected to play Washington in high humidity this Sunday in Landover, Md., so he gave the players a break.

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According to the injury report, Rodgers would not have practiced Wednesday anyway so he would have extra time to treat the knee. It’s possible his practice time will be shaved down every week or until his knee is close to 100 percent.

As for the game plan, Rodgers said the condition of his knee plays a role in what McCarthy has on his play-calling sheet.

“He’s got to know what’s up – meaning, what plays are up,” Rodgers said. “Can we do some (play- ) action? Or can we not? And that just depends on how my knee feels. I don’t think you can say because I did some of those things in the game (against the Vikings) that automatically I’ll be able to do that and more on Sunday.

“It depends on how I’m feeling.”

Rodgers said he didn’t think he suffered a major setback with the knee and there doesn’t appear to be any concern that he won’t play Sunday. Whether he can move around in the pocket like he did in the 29-29 tie with the Minnesota Vikings won’t be known until game time.

Whether it was the reduced mobility or the Minnesota defense, Rodgers took a beating. He was knocked to the ground nine times and wasn’t feeling very hot Monday morning.

“If you’ve seen 'Rocky III,' you know that Mr. T, ‘Clubber Lang,’ has a prediction before the fight: ‘Pain.’ That’s kind of what it felt like.”

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