Aaron Rodgers dodges major injury, Ben Tate signs with Steelers
In other news, the Cowboys placed DT Henry Melton on injured reserve and Jeff Fisher reiterated that Sam Bradford will compete for the Rams starting QB job next season.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers got quite a scare on Sunday afternoon against the Detroit Lions as he fell to the frozen turf late in the second quarter grabbing his lower left leg in pain. Rodgers feared the worst when he initially went down, thinking that he had torn his Achilles tendon on the play. The injury was ultimately diagnosed as a re-aggravation of his original calf injury in a different area.
During his weekly spot on ESPN Radio, Rodgers also said that he is feeling “a little better” after a couple days of treatment on his injured calf. He believes that he’ll be much healthier for the Packers divisional round matchup with two weeks of rest, compared to the one week of recovery he got before the Lions game. However, he wouldn’t go as far as to say that he would be 100 percent when the Packers start their playoff push in two weeks.
Melton placed on IR
The Dallas Cowboys will be without one of their key defensive players for the playoffs after placing defensive tackle Henry Melton on injured reserve Tuesday with a knee injury. The team signed linebacker James Anderson to take his place on the active roster.
Melton suffered the injury in Sunday’s win over Washington. The 28-year-old appeared in all 16 games for the Cowboys this season, recording five sacks and 15 tackles. Melton was among the highest rated defensive tackles according to Pro Football Focus’ positional grades, ranking 15th out of 81 qualified players.
Steelers sign Tate
With Le'Veon Bell questionable for Saturday's wild card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced Tuesday that they have signed running back Ben Tate for the postseason. In a corresponding move, the Steelers waived wide receiver Justin Brown to make room for Tate on the 53-man roster.
Tate was waived earlier this season by the Cleveland Browns and then picked up by the Minnesota Vikings, who eventually released him just over a week ago. Tate has rushed for 371 yards and four touchdowns on 119 attempts in 11 games this season. Tate will join a backfield platoon of Josh Harris and Dri Archer, who got the bulk of the carries in Bell's absence on Sunday.
Bradford will compete for job next year
Sam Bradford was the first overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, but that doesn't mean he is guaranteed to be the St. Louis Rams starting quarterback in 2015. Rams head coach Jeff Fisher told reporters on Tuesday that Bradford will compete for a job next season, and that there will be a quarterback "not in the building now" brought in for the competition.
Bradford missed all of this season after suffering a torn ACL in a preseason game, the same injury that cut short his 2013 season after seven games. Bradford has completed 58.6 percent of his passes for 11,065 yards with 59 touchdowns and 38 interceptions in 49 career games.
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