By Adam Roberts – 1/22/2021

At today’s final Packer practice before the NFC Championship Game this weekend, media members were keeping a close eye on the field to see if any player was missing or listed as a non-participant.

The only player not on the field today was cornerback Kevin King, who head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters was dealing with “a little back issue”. “We’ll give him through the week and see where he’s at and hopefully he’ll be good to go on Sunday.” LaFleur said of his starting corner, who missed weeks five through 10 with a quad injury he obtained the week four win over Atlanta.

Perhaps in a related move, veteran corner Tramon Williams who had been added to the practice squad was a practice participant today, and could be called upon to play in King’s absence against Tampa Bay.

By Adam Roberts – 1/22/2021

A difficult week of loss for the Wisconsin sports community continues.

Two days after former Packer GM Ted Thompson passed away at 68, Milwaukee Braves/Brewers legend Henry “Hank” Aaron, viewed by many as the true American home run leader, has died at age 86.

CBS46 in Atlanta was the first to report the news.

Aaron recorded 755 home runs over his 23-year major league career, 25 if you add his time in the Negro Leagues, along with winning the 1957 NL MVP award the same year that the Milwaukee Braves won the city’s only World Series title to date. Aaron was inducted into Cooperstown in 1982.

By Adam Roberts – 1/21/2021

Yesterday the Brewers made official their signing of utilityman Daniel Robertson to a one-year deal to bring their 40-man roster to 38 players. Today, the Twins finally made a move of their own after a notably slow start to their offseason.

Left-handed pitcher J.A. [[ Jay ]] Happ agreed to a one-year deal, pending a physical with the Twins. Happ spent the last two-and-a-half seasons with the New York Yankees and joins a Minnesota rotation on the hunt for its third straight AL Central title this upcoming season.

In the Bronx, Happ racked up a 21-10 record, 4.13 ERA, and 245 strikeouts. He was an All Star for the Yankees in 2018 and is four seasons removed from finishing sixth in the AL Cy Young vote with the Toronto Blue Jays.

By Adam Roberts – 1/21/2021

As the Milwaukee Bucks get another early-season test this evening when they host the West-leading Lakers at Fiserv Forum, their game against the Wizards tomorrow night will have to wait.

Washington has been struggling with COVID-19 within the organization for a week, with six players testing positive for the virus. It has resulted in six consecutive games postponed until later this year, including tomorrow’s scheduled game against the Bucks. It remains to be seen when the game will be made up later this season. The Wizards have not played since January 11th.

As for Milwaukee, they’ve been largely able to avoid any mass COVID problems this year (knock on wood). After LA tonight the Bucks will host Atlanta on Sunday.

By Adam Roberts – 1/20/2021

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been named the Pro Football Writers of America’s Most Valuable Player for the 2020 season.

This is Rogers’ third PFWA MVP honor, and it comes a couple of weeks ahead of the official NFL MVP announcement on February 6th.

Rodgers started all 16 games this season, completing 372 of 526 passes (70.7%) for 4,299 yards and 48 touchdowns with five interceptions. Once again, Rodgers was extremely efficient, with a 121.5 passer rating behind only his 122.5 rating from 2011.