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Aaron Rodgers gets his work done in practice, likely won't play in preseason opener

Aaron Rodgers did the heavy lifting in practice Tuesday, a sign that he probably won't play Thursday. Jim Matthews/USA Today Network

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers got quite the workout in during Tuesday’s practice, which is probably a good thing because he won’t get much action the rest of the week.

In a 2-hour, 32-minute practice, the Green Bay Packers quarterback was all over the field, leading the individual drills and running the scout team. The latter was a clear sign that he won’t play in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lambeau Field.

“It's probably the toughest practice that I've had all training camp,” Rodgers said Tuesday. “I took every look team rep [with the scout team]. That's a lot of reps out there. Normally if I'm taking first-team reps, I'm taking maybe the first four or five and the last couple in a set of 16.

"Yeah, that's how you get your conditioning this time [of year]. Yesterday we did some running actually during practice, so we're going to make sure we're all ready to play when the preseason starts and when the regular season starts.”

Although coach Mike McCarthy wouldn’t say Tuesday how he will divide playing time for the opener, his practices this week pretty much gave that away. Backup quarterback Brett Hundley got all the work with the No. 1 offense, which included the regular starting offensive line. Receiver Jordy Nelson was the only other regular starter on offense who did not take first-team snaps.

Last preseason, Rodgers was not scheduled to play in the Hall of Fame Game, which never ended up kicking off, then he sat out the next two games. He played only two series (and 26 snaps) in the penultimate exhibition game and sat out the finale. Rodgers has not played in a preseason finale since 2012.

“We always look at last year’s reps -- really the last three years -- just to have something to compare it to,” McCarthy said.