Multiple NFL teams reportedly believe the Packers should be forced to release Aaron Rodgers after team appeared to skirt injury rules
- Aaron Rodgers was placed back on injured reserve after the Green Bay Packers were eliminated from playoff contention.
- NFL rules state that a team cannot place a player back on IR unless he has suffered a new injury.
- ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that multiple teams have contacted the league about the possible infraction.
- Rodgers is unlikely to be released, but it is unclear if the NFL will impose any other punishment.
Aaron Rodgers is on his second injured reserve stint of the season, and some teams reportedly believe the move should force the Green Bay Packers to release the star quarterback.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, multiple teams contacted the league about the move. They argued that the Packers' decision to move Rodgers back to the IR was against the rules, and that Green Bay should be forced to drop Rodgers as a result.
NFL rules dictate that a player must suffer a new injury that would keep him our for at least six weeks if he is going to be placed on IR for a second time in the same season. Rodgers, who came back to the Packers last Sunday after being sidelined for half of the season with a collarbone injury, was taken out of Green Bay's game against the Panthers because he was "sore," according to head coach Mike McCarthy.
After the Packers lost in Week 15, they were still mathematically alive for a playoff berth. But Green Bay was eliminated when the Atlanta Falcons won on Monday night. Rodgers was placed back on the IR on Tuesday.
There have been no reports of Rodgers suffering a new injury in his game against the Panther. It is unlikely the NFL would force one of its most popular players off one of its marquee teams and it is unclear if the NFL would consider other forms of punishment.
The Packers have not commented on the situation.