Lost in the self-described Aaron Rodgers “diatribe” regarding his decision to not be vaccinated and then to lie about his unvaccinated status is the fact that his decision not to be vaccinated forces the Packers to play at least one game without him. When it’s time to determine the final standings, Green Bay could blow the No. 1 seed and the bye that goes with it based on the fact that Rodgers wasn’t available to play.
Fortunately for the Packers, quarterback Jordan Love is available to play. Because Jordan Love, per multiple sources, is vaccinated.
As one source explained it, Love was determined to be in “close contact” with Rodgers. Thus, if Love wasn’t vaccinated, he’d be out, too, this weekend. Which means that Blake Bortles would be playing quarterback for the Packers.
The Packers also have Kurt Benkert on the team, but he (like Rodgers) has tested positive for COVID-19. If Benkert wasn’t on the COVID reserve list, then he would have presumably been in line to start if Love wasn’t vaccinated -- even though Benkert has never taken a snap in a regular-season game.
UPDATE 9:52 p.m. ET: A prior version of this article failed to mention Benkert’s presence on the practice squad, and I suggested that Aaron Rodgers wanted the team to have only two quarterbacks on the roster, given Rodgers’s belief that his homeopathic treatment would keep him from catching COVID. We apologize for the error. Instead of having two quarterbacks on the team before Rodgers tested positive, the Packers had two quarterbacks plus a practice-squad journeyman who has never taken a snap in a regular-season game.
