GREEN BAY, Wis. — It appears that Aaron Rodgers still owns the Chicago Bears but unfortunately for the Green Bay Packers‘ quarterback, he also still has a problem with his fractured pinky toe.
Rodgers and the Packers beat the Bears for the sixth straight time and Rodgers ran his record as a starter against them to 23-5 — settling milestones and records in the series along the way. But he indicated that whatever healing took place with his toe during the Packers’ bye was wiped out, and then some.
“It feels worse,” Rodgers said after Sunday’s 45-30 win at Lambeau Field. “I don’t know what kind of setback that I had tonight but we’ll look at it tomorrow. Definitely took a step back tonight.”
Rodgers’ suffered the injury last month during his COVID-19 quarantine and has barely practiced despite not missing any significant game action since he hurt it. It had improved enough last week to the point where he actually practiced for the first time in three weeks.
During the bye, Rodgers said surgery was an option and even though he was told it could be done without him missing a game, he elected not to have it. He said Sunday that he was still hoping to avoid the procedure, which would immobilize his toe, but that a decision would be made after he undergoes tests on Monday.
“That would be last resort, for sure,” Rodgers said. “But I’ve got to see what kind of setback it was tonight.”
There was no setback when it came to the Packers’ dominance over the Bears with Rodgers at quarterback. Two months after Rodgers celebrated a touchdown at Soldier Field by screaming “I still own you” to fans in the stands, Rodgers threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns without an interception.
This was Rodgers’ seventh four-touchdown, no interception game against the Bears, the most in NFL history against a single opponent. Rodgers is the only quarterback who also has six — against the Vikings. Next closest is Tom Brady with five such games against the Bills.
Rodgers’ final touchdown of the game — his second of the night to Davante Adams (10 catches for 131 yards) — gave him 61 career touchdowns against the Bears, passing Brett Favre’s 60 for the most all time against Chicago. All of that prompted Packers receiver Allen Lazard to wear a shirt that read “I still own you” — Rodgers’ exact words on Oct. 17 — to his postgame news conference.
At first, only the words, “I still” were visible on Lazard’s shirt but when asked if it said what everyone thought it said, Lazard stood up to reveal the “own you,” portion and said: “It most definitely does.”
Running back AJ Dillon had them made shortly after the first game this season against the Bears and while Rodgers said he has one, he did not feel compelled to wear his on Sunday.
“I’ve already said what I’ve said,” Rodgers said. “I don’t need to double and triple down. I’ll let those words stand for themselves.”