Packers reset season, slowly start to heal
Bengals star Green regrets losing cool
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The shock of seeing Aaron Rodgers go down has worn off for the Green Bay Packers.
The sight of Rodgers walking around Lambeau Field as he recovers from a collarbone injury gives teammates a lift.
Maybe, just maybe, the Packers won’t be as snake-bitten with injuries for the rest of the season.
With Rodgers out , it can’t get any worse.
A bye week allowed the Packers (4-3) to get much-needed rest and push the reset button following two straight losses. The streak started with the loss on Oct. 15 at Minnesota, where Rodgers got hurt.
“I think at this point the whole kind of disaster, if you want to say, when you lose your starting quarterback that we had in Minnesota is behind us now and we’re focused on everyone in this locker room and what we need to do to move forward,” said veteran linebacker Clay Matthews, Rodgers’ TV commercial co-star.
“I don’t think much as changed as far as the message. It’s just about getting it done with the guys we have.”
The injury report ahead of the game tonight against the Detroit Lions (3-4) was down to 12 players, and that included two Packers who went on injured reserve during the week. Five others were full participants for the most important day of the practice week on Friday.
This is progress for a team that had 14 players on the injury report two weeks ago.
SCUFFLE: Cincinnati receiver A.J. Green and Jacksonville cornerback Jalen Ramsey were ejected for fighting, after Green body-slammed Ramsey and threw punches at him. Ramsey appeared to be taunting Green most of the first half.
“I should have walked off in that situation,” Green said. “It’s never going to happen again. I regret my actions. Whatever my punishments are I accept them because I put myself in that situation. … I’ve got to control my emotions better. I’ve got to handle my stuff better. I can’t put myself in a situation like that, hurt my team and not be able to play.”
Ramsey was not in the locker room after the game.
RAMS: The Rams’ 6-2 start is the franchise’s best since 2001, when the club went 14-2 in the regular season and eventually lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
What’s even more impressive is that 31-year-old Sean McVay’s team has won the last two games by a combined 84-17 margin, including a 33-0 win over the Cardinals in London.
Jared Goff downplayed the success.
“Eight games in, eight games in,” the second-year quarterback warned. “You’ve seen it in the past, teams start out hot and don’t finish the season that way, or vice versa. We need to go week to week right now.”
SCULLY: A video circulated on social media of retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully saying that he “will never watch another NFL game” because he’s so disappointed by the protests and he has “overwhelming respect and admiration for anyone who puts on a uniform and goes to war.”
JAGUARS: Running back Leonard Fournette was inactive for violating a team rule. It’s unclear what Fournette did to draw coach Doug Marrone’s punishment.