Broken collarbone could end season

In a major setback for a Super Bowl championship contender, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken right collarbone Sunday and could miss the remainder of the NFL season.

The 33-year-old signal caller, whose 13 touchdown passes this season shared the league lead, suffered the injury in the opening quarter of the Packers' 23-10 loss at Minnesota, leaving both teams 4-2.

"Losing Aaron Rodgers speaks for itself," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "In my opinion, he's the best player in football."

Rodgers was hurt after taking a hard hit from Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr and falling on his throwing shoulder. X-rays showed the extent of the damage.

"QB Aaron Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone. There's a chance he could miss the rest of the season," stated the Packers' Twitter announcement of the news.

Rodgers missed seven games in 2013 after suffering a broken left collarbone.

Running to his right on a second down play from Green Bay's 39-yard line less than nine minutes into the contest, Rogers was struck by Barr after tossing an incomplete pass, landing on his throwing arm.

Trainers treated him as he remained on the turf but he rose and walked off, exchanging words with several Minnesota defenders as he departed.

Rodgers, who completed 2-of-4 throws for 18 yards before the injury, had completed two-thirds of his passes this season for 1,367 yards entering the contest.

Rodgers was the Super Bowl 45 Most Valuable Player in 2011 as he led the Packers to a 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh for the NFL title, their first in 14 seasons.

Last week, he rallied the Packers to a dramatic victory against Dallas. This week, Rodgers departed with the game scoreless and his replacement, Brett Hundley, was not able to duplicate the comeback magic.

Hundley, who had thrown only 10 NFL passes before Sunday, completed 18-of-33 passes for 157 yards and one touchdown but threw three interceptions that led to 10 Vikings points and was sacked four times for 20 lost yards.

"It's a tricky situation, especially when the starting quarterback goes down and you're just in there, but I've been preparing for this moment for a long time now," Hundley said.

"Obviously we didn't get the job done today, but we'll be back and we'll be better."

Source: AFP