Aaron Rodgers’ Injury Will Take Time To Heal, Says Sports Medicine Expert

The recovery process is underway for injured Green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and experts say it will take time.

Rodgers suffered a broken collarbone in the first quarter of the Packers’ 23-10 loss at Minnesota on Sunday.

Cordial Gillette, assistant professor of exercise and sport science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said doctors are still evaluating whether Rodgers will need surgery. But even if he doesn’t, she said injuries of that type require significant recovery time.

“It’s still going to be a long process,” Gillette said. “You have to allow the bone to heal, and then after that it’s going to be regaining his strength and range of motion that’s going to be necessary for him to compete at the level he does.”

Rodgers sustained a similar injury in 2013, and returned to the team seven weeks later.

Gillette said bones typically heal in six to eight weeks without any other complications. But she said Rodgers will need to work to regain strength and range of motion in the area around the injury once it heals. And it will be up to doctors to decide whether or not the Packers star returns to the team before the end of the season.

“There’s nothing we can do to speed the body in healing. It has to go through its normal processes,” Gillette said. “As much as Packer fans would like the medical staff to heal him more quickly, we just have to wait for the body to do its job.”