Sunday’s game wasn’t necessarily a must-win for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they undoubtedly felt some pressure on Sunday to get out of their funk and back in the win column with the Baltimore Ravens closing in and Joe Burrow inching toward a return for the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Steelers came out with a sense of urgency, scoring on their opening drive, but Aaron Rodgers appeared to be hampered by a wrist injury late in the first half. It was diagnosed later as a wrist injury.
Rodgers, who hasn’t missed a start this season, exited the game, and Mason Rudolph took over as Pittsburgh won handily thanks to two defensive touchdowns.
Here’s what you need to know about Rodgers’ wrist injury.
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Rodgers was seen grabbing his wrist and grimacing during Sunday’s game against the Bengals. He stayed in for the rest of the first half despite repeatedly grabbing at his wrist.
Mike Tomlin said after halftime that Rodgers was being evaluated and Mason Rudolph was getting ready to play in case the veteran can’t return. Rudolph did take the reins of the Steelers’ offense at the start of the second half, and Rodgers was listed as questionable to return with what the team described as a hand injury.
Aaron Rodgers is grimacing in pain while holding his left hand/wrist pic.twitter.com/lynkCrGrQT
The injury seemed to impact Rodgers’ non-throwing arm and might have occurred when he absorbed this hard hit after a throw.
Aaron Rodgers hurt his hand.
Non throwing pic.twitter.com/tWxUiz4ua6
Rodgers bolted to the locker room as the first half wrapped up and might have had blood on his hand, according to PennLive’s Nick Farabaugh.
Aaron Rodgers just ran straight into the locker room. Looks like he had blood on his left hand.
The Steelers went to halftime with a 10-6 lead, and won the game 34-12. Rudolph, Pittsburgh’s backup quarterback, took over under center and helped lead the team to a win.
Rodgers will have his wrist evaluated on Monday morning, per Ian Rapoport. However, it appears that he suffered a small fracture in his left wrist, which will cause him to miss some time.
Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers will undergo more tests Monday on his left wrist, but the initial belief is it’s nothing long term, sources tell me and @RapSheet.
X-rays at the stadium showed a small fracture. They won’t know more until further scans. pic.twitter.com/5rnuYxpwxa
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Rodgers suffered a hand injury late in the first half and appeared to be grabbing at his wrist and hand during the final plays of the half.
While the injury impacted his non-throwing hand, Rodgers did not come out for the start of the second half and was labeled as questionable to return. Rodgers did not make it back in the game, and it was officially diagnosed as a wrist injury.
Rodgers is 41 years old and is set to turn 42 on Dec. 2. He is the oldest player in the NFL.
MORE: Full list of QB injuries in Week 11
Rodgers is playing out a one-year, $13.65 million contract with the Steelers.
While he said in the summer that he would go into 2025 believing this would be his final NFL season, Rodgers has not officially made retirement plans, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the Steelers would welcome him back in 2026.
Dan Treacy is a content producer for Sporting News, joining in 2022 after graduating from Boston University. He founded @allsportsnews on Instagram in 2012 and has written for Lineups and Yardbarker.