Welcome to the Tuesday edition of The Cooler, where recent weather only confirms my belief that September is the best month. Let's get to it:
*After idly speculating on Aaron Rodgers' injury Monday on Twitter, I was guided to a more informed opinion: That of Dr. David J. Chao, who writes about sports medicine for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy isn't saying anything about Rodgers' knee injury, which caused the Packers QB to miss part of Sunday night's game against the Bears and limited Rodgers' mobility even as he led a 24-23 comeback victory. Rodgers was adamant postgame that he will play Sunday against the Vikings.
Chao tends to agree with that. Based on his video review of the play on which Rodgers was injured, plus the type of brace Rodgers was wearing when he came back in, Chao — writing as "Pro Football Doc" — is guessing that Rodgers has a mild sprain of his MCL.
"He will receive extensive treatment and might be limited or miss practice, but no one can doubt he will play next week. The only real question is how mobile he will be after suffering an apparent MCL sprain Sunday," he writes, adding later: "Over the next 2-4 weeks, as he heals, cutting and side-to-side moments will be affected, but he should be able to play."
Again, the people who know best the exact nature of Rodgers' injury and recovery are the Packers' medical folks and Rodgers himself. But until they offer any further public diagnosis, this is at least a starting point for what to possibly expect. If you're a Vikings fan, it's probably best to get used to the idea of No. 12 playing Sunday.
*I wrote Monday about the botched attempt by the Bears to finish off the Packers, which included criticism of new coach Matt Nagy's decisionmaking. As it turns out, Nagy wasn't the only new coach to struggle in his NFL debut.
With Jon Gruden's Raiders and Matt Patricia's Lions getting routed during Monday's NFL doubleheader, all seven new coaches lost their openers. That also includes former Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, whose Giants lost 20-15 to the Jaguars.
*Attendance for the Twins/Yankees game Monday on a gorgeous night at Target Field was a paltry 21,565 — and as someone who was there, I would say Yankees fans made up a good portion of the actual fans in the stands and produced some of the largest cheers as New York won 7-2.
The Twins tend to face an attendance challenge on weeknights when school is back in session, and their disappointing season certainly plays a role in walk-up attendance, but I'm still a little surprised the crowd was so small. The result and game time (3 hours, 39 minutes) probably won't help earn many repeat customers.