GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There's not much Aaron Rodgers -- or any other quarterback -- can do if an opposing pass-rusher takes him to the ground and he lands on his throwing shoulder again.

If he breaks his collarbone again, it's the rub of the green.

But here's what the Green Bay Packers should have learned from the seven games Rodgers missed after he underwent surgery to repair his broken right clavicle after Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr hit him and drove him to the ground on Oct. 15: They need more from the rest of their team, whether it's the inconsistent pass rush or the breakdowns in the secondary or the lack of weapons outside of Davante Adams and, at times, Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson.

Brett Hundley did as well as could be expected for a quarterback taken in the fifth round who had never played meaningful snaps before this season. He won three of his seven starts. With a little more defensive help and another weapon or two, say at tight end (where the Martellus Bennett experiment failed), then perhaps the Packers would have been better positioned for Rodgers' return last week at Carolina.

Whether that requires a roster overhaul, a change at the top of the personnel department or new ideas on the defensive side of the ball, it will be for the organization to decide.

Hundley & Co. gave Rodgers a chance to return, but it would have taken a nearly flawless performance over the final three games just to have a chance at the playoffs. Instead, Rodgers couldn't make his return a heroic one, and the Packers' season is over with two games to play.

As Rodgers sits on injured reserve for the final two games of the season, it will be a reminder of the team's shortcomings -- not at quarterback, but in so many other positions.

Rodgers turned 34 earlier this month. He believes he can play, and play well, at least until 40. But the older he gets, the more help he'll need.

It should be a sign that Ted Thompson, or whoever occupies the general manager's office at Lambeau Field after this season, needs to go "all-in," as Rodgers would say.

It's not that Rodgers can't keep playing at or near an MVP level. The first five games of this season, with his league-leading 13 touchdowns and a pair of game-winning drives, showed for certain that he can. It's that the Packers can't just rely on him to carry them all the time because, if another injury occurs and the team hasn't been upgrade then another precious year will fall by the wayside just as 2017 did.

Rodgers took on a risk to come back last week even though his collarbone wasn't 100 percent cleared. With the possibility of the playoffs gone, the Packers shut him down because, coach Mike McCarthy said, it was "in Aaron Rodgers' best interest."

"He's a special player, stating the obvious," McCarthy said Tuesday after Rodgers was placed on IR. "But he definitely laid it out there for us."

Now, the Packers need to make sure they do the same for Rodgers next year and beyond.