By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com
FOXBORO -- Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered his second concussion of the season on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. His previous concussion came in October, and he played the very next week.
But as of Wednesday, Rodgers was still being held out of team meetings and coach Mike McCarthy -- while calling it a "medical decision" -- said that there's only a "slim" chance of his quarterback practicing before they have to make their decision, on Saturday, as to whether or not he'll play against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.
"Aaron Rodgers didn not practice today," said McCarthy after Wednesday's practice. "He's going through the normal protocol that you go through with the concussion procedures. I don't anticipate him practicing tomorrow. And I think there'd be a slim chance for him to practice on Friday. So we'll probably make a decision on Saturday, if he is cleared by the medical staff.
"There's a series of tests that every player goes through, and as he clears each hurdle, and as he's able to practice, that's really the final stage, if he can practice and everything is cleared. We're obviously not close to that step yet.
"The first thing I'm looking at, No. 1 is, is he healthy enough to go through the mental preparation. And once we get to that point, we'll probably have a better feel for where he stands."
Veteran cornerback Charles Woodson sounded a little more optimistic about Rodgers' status for Sunday during his conference call on Wednesday.
New England Patriots
"This is the second time it's happened to him, and I know they're going to go through some extensive evaluations with him, but in this game, guys, they want to be on the field," said Woodson. "My gut would be, really, that he would play."
Danny Picard is on Twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard. You can listen to Danny on his streaming radio show I'm Just Sayin'Monday-Friday from 9-10 a.m. on CSNNE.com.