It's not so atypical for a NFL quarterback to have special hand symbols to convey various types of information to his teammates, but this past Sunday might be the first time a quarterback and his team doctor have established a similar style of communication.
On Sunday, during the Green Bay Packers' win over the Dallas Cowboys, Mr. Rodgers looked to the sideline and found Pat McKenzie, MD, and gave him a thumb-down. The gesture, apparently, was to let the team doctor know his strained left calf was doing fine — not the opposite.
"Thumb-down actually meant I'm doing really good," Mr. Rodgers told ESPN on Tuesday. "A couple of times I gave a thumb-down to the sideline, I was giving it to Doc McKenzie to let him know I'm feeling good."
Dr. McKenzie, who has been with the team since 1991 and was named the NFL's top physician in 2011, has been keeping a vigilant eye on Mr. Rodgers' calf since Week 16 and 17, when the all-star quarterback injured it in two separate places.
The Packers will face the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday during the National Football Conference championship game.
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