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Favre in, Rodgers out for Packers

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

The Green Bay Packers lost a quarterback for the season on Monday. It wasn’t Brett Favre.

Backup Aaron Rodgers said he didn’t know how he broke his left foot in the third quarter of Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots and thought he was just feeling sorry for himself because of his poor performance.

Rodgers had replaced Favre, who hurt his elbow earlier in the game but is expected to return in time for Monday night’s game at Seattle.

Rodgers’ injury requires surgery, which he said probably will include placing a screw in his foot. He’ll be sidelined for the rest of the season, and the Packers need another quarterback.

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“I didn’t want to come out of the game,” Rodgers said. “I knew it was bothering me, but I still felt like I could make some plays and I wanted to be out there.”

Rodgers said he told rookie Ingle Martin, the team’s third quarterback, that he thought he had broken his foot and told the trainers in the fourth quarter he needed an X-ray.

But he finished the game, going four for 12 for 32 yards, and brushed off reporters Sunday while hobbling through the locker room with a noticeable limp. He apologized Monday.

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“After finding out I’d be out for the season, it was a tough blow to take and I didn’t feel like answering any questions,” Rodgers said.

“On a personal level, you feel terrible for him, because the first thing you think about is here’s a guy who has been here since March 20, he’s been here every day going through the quarterback school, getting ready to potentially be the starter for our football team,” Packers Coach Mike McCarthy said. “He finally gets the opportunity to play and that happens to him.”

Favre, starting his 251st game including playoffs, injured a nerve in his elbow after being sacked just before halftime in the Packers’ 35-0 loss.

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He couldn’t muster enough strength to adequately grip the football and missed completing a game for only the sixth time in his career because of an injury.

Favre was five for 15 for 73 yards when he left. The five completions were a career low for a start, while the 73 yards passing were his fewest since Oct. 20, 1994, when he was forced out of a game at Minnesota because of a severely bruised left hip.

McCarthy said Monday that Favre has most of the strength back in his elbow, but he wasn’t ready to say the three-time most valuable player would practice this week.

“He’s not very worried about it, which to them is a clear indication because he’s been through this so long. [The team’s doctors] trust his judgment based on their history with him,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said the team could elevate Martin, drafted in the fifth round, or look for a more experienced quarterback to back up Favre.

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New Orleans Saints standout rookie receiver Marques Colston was listed as day to day because of a sprained left ankle suffered in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

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“We’ll treat it and see how much pressure he can put on it,” Saints Coach Sean Payton said. “It’s just a matter how much weight it can support and how quickly he can come back off of it. Each day we’ll get an idea maybe a little bit of his progress.”

X-rays and an MRI exam were negative, Payton said.

Colston, a seventh-round draft choice from Hofstra, has 54 catches for 869 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns.

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Arizona Cardinals defensive end Bertrand Berry will sit out the rest of the season after tearing his triceps in Sunday’s victory over Detroit.

An MRI exam Monday revealed the seriousness of the injury, Coach Dennis Green said. Berry will undergo surgery to repair the tear, probably this week.

It is the second year in a row Berry had his season end prematurely.

Last year, he sat out the final eight games because of a torn pectoral muscle.

Berry leads the team in sacks with six.

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Oakland Raiders running back LaMont Jordan underwent an MRI exam on his left knee, for an injury that could sideline him for the rest of the season.

Jordan, who has 434 yards in 114 carries, was injured in Sunday’s loss to Kansas City.

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The NFL announced that the kickoff for the Seattle Seahawks’ game at Denver on Dec. 3 has been moved to 5:15 p.m. PST so that it can be televised by NBC.

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