NEW ORLEANS -- Most of them didn’t know about Aaron Rodgers' injury. The Detroit Lions had just completed a 52-38 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, the team’s second straight defeat, to drop them to 3-3.
And despite Detroit's falling into third place in the NFC North, Rodgers' broken collarbone could reshape the division.
Rodgers has crushed the Lions throughout his career. He beat Detroit last season in Week 17 to keep the club from its first division title since 1993. In 2015, his Hail Mary to Richard Rodgers on a final, untimed down beat the Lions in Ford Field and became a legendary play. In his career, he’s 13-3 against the Lions as a starter, completing 66.5 percent of his passes for 4,058 yards, 34 touchdowns and six interceptions.
And now, there’s a chance Rodgers is out for the season.
“Does it change the division? Yeah,” defensive tackle Akeem Spence said. “You know, what he does to this division, they’ve been the top dog in this division for the last couple years. I know Detroit played them well. We can’t take that stuff for granted.
“We got to keep playing, man. We got to start stringing these wins together. I’m ready to get a win.”
The Lions have lost two straight games, having not won since Oct. 1 at Minnesota. That victory could mean even more since the Vikings might be the division's best team. The Packers have won five of the past six division titles and every team in the division has won one since 2010 -- except for the Lions, who last won a title when the NFC North was the five-team NFC Central. Detroit, though, has the best quarterback situation in the division, with rookie Mitchell Trubisky playing in Chicago, a backup in Green Bay and either Sam Bradford or Case Keenum in Minnesota. Of course, taking a team's backup quarterback for granted can be a dangerous oversight.
Most Lions, though, called Rodgers’ injury unfortunate or a tough loss for Green Bay. That includes a couple of Lions players who said they were looking forward to playing him this season. Detroit plays Green Bay in Week 9 in Wisconsin and Week 17 in Detroit.
But not all of them feel Rodgers' injury changes the division. And it doesn’t change how Detroit looks at Green Bay, even if it is Brett Hundley at quarterback instead of a two-time NFL MVP.
“You can’t,” receiver TJ Jones said. “I don’t think you can. It’s more than just Aaron. They have great playmakers on the outside on offense and defense and it’s a team. It’s the Packers. If it was 11 Aaron Rodgerses out there, that might make a difference, but he’s just one of 11.”
He is, though, an extremely important one.
Whether or not Rodgers is in the game, the Lions have to play better. After two straight losses, Detroit recognizes that. The Lions have already put themselves in a difficult position with the wild card as New Orleans, Atlanta and Carolina all have head-to-head tiebreakers over Detroit.
Winning the division might be the Lions’ clearest path to the playoffs and they already have a win at Minnesota.
Not every Lions player, though, in the wake of a loss to New Orleans in which they gave up over 50 points for the first time since 2007, was interested in talking about Rodgers' injury and its implications for the division.
“It don’t change nothing, man,” cornerback Nevin Lawson said. “We just played a game. I ain’t worried about no damn Aaron Rodgers, bro.”