Packers QB Aaron Rodgers confirms setback with knee injury, could wear larger brace

The Green Bay Packers hoped quarterback Aaron Rodgers would make it to their Week 7 bye without re-aggravating the knee injury he suffered in the season opener. However, Rodgers confirmed Thursday that he suffered a setback during last Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions that could result in him wearing a larger brace during the upcoming tilt with the San Francisco 49ers.

”Yeah, kind of a setback last week, the beginning of the week,” Rodgers said to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “Got to be in the rehab group again today, got a lot of good work in with [assistant trainer] Nate [Weir] and just hoping I get back out there tomorrow and have a good-feel Friday and a practice [Sunday] and be good to go -- hopefully back to where I was in Detroit.”

Last week, Rodgers played with a noticeably smaller brace than the one he wore from Weeks 2-4. The veteran quarterback also saw his most extensive practice work leading up to the Lions game than any time since the injury, allowing Green Bay to remove him from the injury report altogether. Given the setback to Rodgers’ knee, he will presumably reappear on the report when the team has to declare availability statuses later in the week.

Still, with Rodgers not appearing likely to miss Monday’s game against the 49ers, he could still make it safely to the Packers’ Week 7 bye and finally give his knee an extended period to recover.