The shoulder injury that Aaron Rodgers suffered on Sunday had many Green Bay Packer fans freaking out. And some pundits declaring the Bears early favorites to storm out to a lead in the NFC North. But it appears that such discussion may be a touch premature, at least in part because Aaron Rodgers seems intent on playing this week, shoulder injury or not.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy and his assistants will spend this week monitoring Rodgers' progress and preparing rookie backup Matt Flynn to start, just in case.

"Speaking with Aaron this morning, he has every intention on playing," McCarthy said Monday in Green Bay. "But I think Wednesday's practice will be a pretty good indicator for us. It's just something we'll have to continue to rehab and see where we are on Wednesday."

So maybe I shouldn't be speaking in such absolutes; still, it sure does seem like Rodgers wants to get back out on the field Sunday. And the Packers need him too, what with, well, Matt Flynn calling the signals should Rodgers not make it back.

Of course, if it were the Lions they were squaring off against this week, I would demand that Rodgers rest, since Flynn could handle them without whatever arm he uses to throw the ball. Instead, they've got the Falcons and, well, to be honest ... they'd probably be better resting Rodgers here too. No offense to Matt Ryan.

Fantasy Spin: This is good news, and actually makes Rodgers a decent trade target -- his owner is probably looking to get something at this point. I've got a Rodgers - Derek Anderson combo going in a few leagues, and I'm debating a waiver move, but I'm also not going to do anything crazy until I find out what Rodgers plan of attack is.

When Brett Favre announced that he was cutting short his 2008 Mississippi Summer Fishing Extravaganza to return to the NFL, it was hardly surprising. What was surprising, however, was the revelation that the Green Bay Packers were no longer interested in his services.

That ship had sailed, head coach Mike McCarthy explained; Aaron Rodgers was the future. Which meant that Favre would have to peddle his wares elsewhere. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sought to have closure on the issue before the start of the regular season -- and understandably so -- and he suggested that Favre remain semi-retired, wait to see which teams were in need of a starter after a few weeks, and proceed from there.

See where I'm going with this? Yeah, so does Peter King. From his MMQB - Tuesday Mailbag column:

Since he appears to enjoy eating anything else he can find, Vikings defensive tackle Pat Williams should prepare to eat his words. I'm not sure the calorie count, but if you add enough salt, they can be quite tasty.

Especially if you mix in a little crow on the side.

He apparently didn't think he'd said enough when he boldly predicted that his Vikings would hand new Green Bay starter Aaron Rodgers his "first damn loss" Monday night. Williams added - in essence - that Brett Favre was the only reason the Packers were any good.

I remind you of these comments only because of the fact that Williams wasn't done. After a few weeks of relative silence, probably because he was too busy eating to talk, Williams struck again Friday.

When the Packers used a second-round pick on Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, they were working from the assumption that Brett Favre was actually going to stay retired this time. Green Bay would take LSU QB Matt Flynn five rounds later just for good measure.

Turns out, Favre was just joshing about spending the rest of his days fishin' in Mississippi, he re-un-retired, the Packers balked, and the future Hall of Famer ended up with the New York Jets. And Green Bay enters the season with a first-year starter in Aaron Roders, and two rookies behind him on the depth chart.

And while Brohm seemed like the obvious choice for the No. 2 job -- he came from a prolific college program and was at one time considered a first-round talent -- head coach Mike McCarthy has named Flynn Rodgers' backup.

"Now's the time when your reps are limited," McCarthy said after Monday's practice. "The ability to keep splitting them, we didn't feel was in the best interests (of the team). It would have been in the best interests of the group, but I wanted to be sure we gave one of the individuals an opportunity to get ready. We just felt Matt was a little more productive than Brian in the preseason, but it's a competition that will continue."

These things happen and it really says nothing about Brohm's NFL future; he's just one of countless players whose careers got off to a bumpy start. It happens.

Brett Favre seemingly will not let the whole Green Bay thing die -- because Lord knows, we all did. In fact, we moved onto the Post #4 Era quite nicely, and I think, honestly, we kind of stopped caring about Favre in New York.

Well, Brett will not be having any of that. So he decided to do an interview about how goshdarn happy and excited he is to be a Jet and in the process, thrash every single member of the Green Bay organization.

There was Ted Thompson, who is apparently crazy and who Favre is disappointed in:

"I always liked Ted and I don't want to say I dislike him now," he said. "I'm disappointed."

Thompson flew to Favre's Mississippi home, and the quarterback thought the general manager was there to ask him to come back. Instead, Thompson told him that the team was going to do something special for him: dismantle his locker and send it to him.

"That was the craziest thing I ever heard of," Favre said. "What the hell am I going to do with a locker anyway? So, I said, 'OK, Ted, that's great."'

Yeah, he didn't treat Brett well at all. So that's pretty solid of him.

OK, so not really. But the man being deified in the New York area would like everyone to know that he's really just a man. A 38-year-old man, to be exact.

"My arm is kind of dragging a little bit today,'' said Favre ... "It's really not sore. Fatigued. To be honest with you, I'm kind of surprised I half feel good. I've been able to make it through every practice so far.

"I think maybe this afternoon I'm going to talk to Eric (Mangini) about it, limiting my throws. I didn't throw the ball very well this morning. No pain. But I'm 38 years old. I have to be fatigued a little bit.''

Wait, so are you trying to tell me that Brett Favre is not, as i've been led to believe, just a kid out there?

Though Favre was working out and preparing to play even as he was retired, there's no way that his routine was adequate for a season in the NFL. And there's certainly no way it matched the intense program Mike McCarthy assigned Favre last year after seasons of lax offseason work led to the down years of Favre's career. Coincidence that McCarthy's plan came before a career season?

Favre would like to play Saturday to get that game feeling, but it doesn't change the fact that the team's savior already has a tired arm and he hasn't even learned the entire offense yet. Just add it onto the list of things giving me a bad feeling about how this season goes down in East Rutherford.

Now that the drama between Brett Favre and the Packers is over, let's take one last reflective look at the past few months, the unprecedented enormity of it all, and how we arrived at this place.

Done?

Good, now: let it go. The past is the past. It's time to look to the future. Everybody will be keeping tabs on the goings-on in Green Bay and East Rutherford this year, whether out of allegiance, curiosity, or thirst for waging your dollars on the uncontrollable actions of others.

Bodog's got a whole new set of action if there's no limit to your gambling pursuits. Some highlights:

• Over/Under, Favre's touchdowns: 25.5
• Over/Under, Favre's interceptions: 15.5
• Over/Under, Jets wins: 8 (-155)
• Over/Under, Packers wins: 8 (-135)
• Odds that Mike McCarthy, Ted Thompson, or Mark Murphy will lose their jobs before the 2009 season: 3/2 (one of them), 9/4 (two of them), 5/1 (three of them), 6/5 (none of them)

Keep in mind, this stuff isn't determined with probability in mind, only what will draw the most bettors. That being said, I'm taking under, over, under, push, and banking on all three of those guys keeping their jobs. Degenerate gamblers, weigh in!

Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers says he doesn't want our pity, but he is going to get some of mine. The kid in the short YouTube above rejected Rodgers' attempt to autograph his football, and as was explained in an article preaching that fans take it easier on Rodgers, another kid told him:

"We don't love you. You suck."

Children often express elemental but brutal honesty, and I'm not sure things are going to be much better for AaRod in his dealings with fans in general.

Whatever side you pick in the Packer front office versus Brett Favre pissing match dispute, there is going to be a percentage of the fanbase who will be bitter at GM Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy for kicking Favre to the curb in favor of an unproven Rodgers. And however misguided it is, those fans will take it out on Rodgers.

Though the course of a game, it is easier to boo Rodgers than Thompson and McCarthy. Emotional and overwrought perhaps, but that's how things work. The decision makers don't throw incomplete passes and every quarterback does.

Have you ever been stuck in a meeting at work that just goes on and on? There's only one thing worse than that: being the guys stuck outside waiting for that meeting to end.

Count the entire Packers roster, minus Brett Favre, and the assembled Packers press corps as the unlucky ones on Monday. The Packers team was waiting to hear the news that everyone wants to know: what exactly will the team do about Brett Favre. Head coach Mike McCarthy was going to tell the team tonight, then address the media and answer the same questions at a 9:15 p.m. (ET) press conference.

But there was one problem. Favre and McCarthy's discussions took so long that McCarthy finally had to send the rest of the team home, and tell the media he'll talk to them tomorrow.

As the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains:

Packers spokesman Jeff Blumb told reporters gathered for what was supposed to be a 9:15 p.m. eastern press conference that the briefing would be held tomorrow. Blumb explained that McCarthy was still talking to Favre; at that point, the two had been meeting for more than three hours.

McCarthy also sent the rest of the players home for the night. The coach had planned to address the team as a group after he met with Favre, but it got so late that he decided to have the meeting Tuesday. After talking to the players, McCarthy is expected to address reporters' questions.

The showdown between Brett Favre and the Packers took a detour late Saturday night as Favre tells SI.com that he won't report to camp when it opens on Sunday.

"I had planned on reporting for the start of Packers training camp Sunday, but Ted Thompson asked if I would give him a couple of days to try to get the situation resolved. I agreed to do that. I don't want to be a distraction to the Packers, and I hope in the next few days we can come to an agreement that would allow me to continue playing football.''

Favre also said: "I've also spoken with Commissioner Goodell a couple of times this week, in hopes that he could be some sort of arbitrator in this. I hope he can be.''

Had Favre officially unretired and reported to Packers camp, the media circus surrounding this would have been unbelievable.

Word is that Favre and Packers GM Ted Thompson had a conversation on Saturday that led to Favre's decision not to take this thing to the next level. According to Favre, Thompson said that he would not be permitted to compete for the starting job with the team -- which is what head coach Mike McCarthy said earlier in the day. At the pre-camp media fiesta, McCarthy insisted that Aaron Rodgers is the starting QB of the Green Bay Packers.