The Green Bay Packers officially locked up the top overall seed in the NFC on Sunday night, defeating the rival Minnesota Vikings, 37-10, in frigid conditions at Lambeau Field. Three straight seasons with 13 wins, three straight seasons with a first-round bye. All under the stewardship of head coach Matt LaFleur.
Taking the wild-card weekend off means the Packers technically have nothing to play for in Week 18 against the Detroit Lions. But reigning MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently told reporters that he expects to take the field for the regular season finale. The only question is, should the team risk injury to stars -- particularly Rodgers, who's battling a toe injury -- in a meaningless game?
"If I'm the coach, the only way I can guarantee [Rodgers] is going to be ready in a few weeks is if he doesn't play," former Packers safety LeRoy Butler told the Maggie and Perloff show on Wednesday. "He's already injured. The coach has to say. So, if the coach wants him to play, I'm fine with that. But if I was a coach, I'm thinking in my head, 'If something happens,' then the fanbase is going to be so upset...
"Aaron Rodgers is going to be MVP now and in three weeks. You're still a great player if you miss a few shots, but at the end of the day, you're going to make those shots. I don't look at it as rust, I look at it as rest. Think about it: COVID protocols. He doesn't have to travel if he doesn't want to... I'd just sit him and let him watch. If he wants to go out there for a quarter or a half, just to keep rhythm, what if he does that and he's still rusty in three weeks?"
Although Rodgers has barely practiced since suffering a fractured pinky toe back in early November, the injury hasn't affected his gameday performances. Through 16 games, the 38-year-old owns a 68.6 completion percentage with 3,977 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, and four picks. Rodgers' passer rating (111.1) also ranks first among qualifying quarterbacks, and he hasn't committed a single turnover since Week 10.
Green Bay (13-3) and Detroit (2-13-1) are scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at Ford Field. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Packers currently have a league-best 28-percent chance to win Super Bowl 56, and Rodgers is the consensus favorite to repeat as MVP. The last player to take home this hardware in consecutive years was Peyton Manning (2008-09).
The entire Packers conversation between Butler and Maggie and Perloff can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Maggie and Perloff Show on Twitter @MaggieandPerl and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.