Packers HC Matt LaFleur reiterates QB Aaron Rodgers wants to play vs. Lions

Both quarterback Aaron Rodgers and head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier this week that the Green Bay Packers would play starters for at least some of Sunday's game at the Detroit Lions even though Green Bay already possesses the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. 

Rodgers practiced Thursday, and LaFleur reiterated to reporters Friday they should expect to see the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, who is the betting favorite to win that award for the fourth time of his Hall of Fame career, on the field in Week 18. 

"This is not preseason game No. 3 where you have 75 guys or 70 guys in uniform," LaFleur explained about the current state of his roster, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "We’ve got 48 players. So the guys are going to play." 

LaFleur admitted, however, that he doesn't believe Rodgers "necessarily needs to play" to be sharp for the postseason tournament.

"I think he’s proven that throughout the course of the season, in terms of the lack of practice that he’s had and he’s still going out there and playing at an MVP level," the coach added. "So I don’t think he necessarily needs to play. I think he wants to play and I think he wants to keep the momentum going."

Rodgers has been playing with a fractured pinkie toe since the middle of November, and any setback related to that problem would likely result in LaFleur shutting his signal-caller down through the end of Sunday's contest.