Joe Buck and Troy Aikman in 2019. Oct 6, 2019; Arlington, TX, USA; Fox announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the field prior to the game with the Dallas Cowboys playing against the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Rodgers can’t quite keep himself out of the headlines and the Green Bay Packers was back in them this week following COVIDToeGate.

On Tuesday, Rodgers appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and talked about how he was feeling after testing positive for COVID-19 a couple of weeks back (which was a whole thing), saying he had “no lingering effects, other than the COVID toe.” That led Andrew Beaton of The Wall Street Journal to talk with Harvard associate professor Dr. Esther Freeman about the actual medical condition known as “COVID toe” (a casual reference for pernio or chilblains, older medical issues that have seen recent uptick as a complication of COVID-19).

During a Zoom call with media on Wednesday, Rodgers showed off his injured toe, telling reporters that the injury is, in fact, a fractured toe. He then said that he did not have chilblains before wrongly chastising Molly Knight for writing the COVID toe piece and then going on a rant about “disinformation” as he is wont to do.

Sunday, Rodgers and the Packers took on the Los Angeles Rams in a game with huge implications for the NFC playoff picture. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were on the call for Fox and Buck apparently came ready for Rodgers. As the Packers quarterback took the field for the first time, he referred to him as “Mr. Bad Toe,” a sign of things to come.

There’s something about the rock music that makes it feel like a snippet from a song that will surely be making the rounds on TikTok by Monday.

However, Buck was saving his best work for after the commercial break when Erin Andrews provided an update on Rodgrers’ toe.

“He took a pain-killing injection pre-game where he said he can only feel nine toes,” said Andrews. “And he told us his play will not be limited.”

Without skipping a beat, Buck responded by saying “So Aaron is telling us that he’s has his toe immunized against the pain.”

Buck’s cold-blooded quip was in response to Rodgers’ initial statement about whether or not he was vaccinated back in August, saying at the time that he was “immunized.”

Naturally, a lot of fun was had at Buck’s bit on social media.

Between this and Buck’s fantastic zinger at the Detroit Lions’ expense on Thursday, he’s been in rare form lately. Who knows what else Joe has waiting in the chamber for Rodgers. We might have some more quips to add to the list before this game is over.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Editorial Strategy Director for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.