Packers head coach Matt LaFleur planning to play starters vs. Lions?

The Green Bay Packers secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs via a 37-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night, but quarterback and reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers surprised some when he commented after the victory that he plans to at least start for the Week 18 game at the 2-13-1 Detroit Lions that means nothing to Green Bay as it pertains to the postseason tournament. 

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur echoed his quarterback's words while speaking with the media on Monday. 

"Right now, the mindset is going into this is we’re going to play our guys and we’re going to approach it like every other game," LaFleur explained, according to Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "I just think that the reason behind that is I’m not comfortable having, essentially, a three-week layoff for our guys. And I know you can look at it a million different ways and there’s never a right answer unless it works out.

"So if somebody goes in there and they get injured, then [the question is] why’d you play your guys? But if you go out there in that first playoff game and you lay an egg, [the question is] why’d you rest your guys? So there’s not a right answer. The bottom line is, whatever we do, we’ve got to go out and perform and we know that. And that’s the way we’re going to go about it." 

Rodgers, an MVP candidate for the current campaign, has played through a fractured pinkie toe since returning from the reserve/COVID-19 list in early November and, thus, has no reason to play in all four quarters against a Lions team that theoretically shouldn't be desperate for a positive result. While one could credit stars such as Rodgers and wide receiver Davante Adams for wanting to stay sharp ahead of the playoff bye, LaFleur realistically can't risk their health in what is, for Green Bay, a meaningless contest.