We wondered aloud on Sunday night's "Around The League Podcast" if the Green Bay Packers would rush Aaron Rodgers back this week to stem the tide of their three-game losing streak in his absence.
Coach Mike McCarthy nipped that idea in the bud Monday.
"Scott Tolzien will start this week," McCarthy told reporters. "Was that as quick as last week?"
As for Rodgers' return, McCarthy reiterated that the decision is in the hands of his medical staff.
"We all know he wants to play, wants to play as soon as he can," McCarthy said. "But those are big decisions."
With a winnable game against the reeling Minnesota Vikings in Week 12, the pressure is on the Packers' offense to score more than the 13 points it has averaged the past two weeks.
The good news is that Tolzien's play was a bright spot in Sunday's loss to the New York Giants -- despite a trio of interceptions.
Tolzien isn't playing it safe, a fact that has not escaped McCarthy's attention. In his second career start, Tolzien connected on all five passes of 25-plus yards through the air. McCarthy emphasized that he's never seen a quarterback hit every big shot he took down the field.
The Packers can't be happy with their win-loss record since Rodgers went down, but the injury has provided McCarthy with a long-term insurance policy at the position. He can rest assured that he has one of the league's finer young backups if Tolzien can pull his team out of its skid against the NFL's most generous scoring defense in Week 12.
We recapped every Week 11 game on the latest "Around The League Podcast."
