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Packers activate Aaron Rodgers off COVID-19 list for Sunday’s game

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers activated quarterback Aaron Rodgers from the reserve/COVID-19 list, the team said in a statement Saturday.

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The move means that Rodgers is eligible to play when Green Bay faces the Seattle Seahawks.

Rodgers remained asymptomatic from COVID-19 and was activated from the list after meeting return-to-play protocols set out by the NFL and the NFLPA, ESPN reported.

The Packers (7-2) had until 3 p.m. CST to return Rodgers to the 53-man roster so that he would be eligible to play against the Seahawks (3-5), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Rodgers also was added to the injury report with a toe injury, the Packers said. The team did not add a designation with it, meaning he is OK to play, according to the newspaper.

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For Rodgers to be reinstated from the mandatory 10-day quarantine, he was required to pass a cardiac test, be fever-free for 24 hours and show improvement in his symptoms.

Rodgers, who is not vaccinated, did not need to pass a COVID-19 test, the Journal Sentinel reported. He will not need to be tested again for 90 days. It was discovered that Rodgers never received a vaccine after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 3.

The Packers were fined $300,000, and Rodgers and wide receiver Allan Lazard were each fined $14,650 for failing to follow the league’s COVID-19 protocols, CNN reported.

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Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Friday that Rodgers virtually participated in all meetings this week, according to ESPN.

“It’s been going great,” LaFleur told reporters. “Communication’s been there. He’s been in every meeting. He’s been engaged. So, it’s just he’s not with his guys out on the field. That’s the dynamic that you never know. But we’re fortunate to have a guy that has got a ton of reps under his belt, has played a ton of ball, so we’re pretty confident that, provided he checks out well, he can go out there and play at a high level.”

Rodgers was not allowed back into the team’s facility until Saturday but said he had been working out on his own, ESPN reported.

“I just do believe there’s a health hurdle that I have to [clear] as far as like movement and sweating and getting into it, making sure my body, especially heart, is fine with physical exertion,” Rodgers said.

Without Rodgers last week, the Packers lost 13-7 to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was Jordan Love’s first NFL start at quarterback.

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