The Green Bay Packers were officially eliminated from the NFC playoff picture on Monday night after the Atlanta Falcons topped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In response, the Packers announced that they've placed Aaron Rodgers back on the injured reserve list to officially end his season. They re-signed quarterback Joe Callahan to fill his spot, per a team press release.

The Green Bay Packers have signed QB Joe Callahan and placed QB Aaron Rodgers on injured reserve. The team also announced that they have released FB Joe Kerridge from the active roster and QB Jerod Evans from the practice squad. The transactions were announced Tuesday by Executive Vice President, General Manager and Director of Football Operations Ted Thompson.

This decision was expected after head coach Mike McCarthy stated on Monday that Rodgers was sore and had taken too many hits against the Carolina Panthers. With the playoffs completely out of the picture, Green Bay had no real reason to continue to play Rodgers to risk possible re-injury.

Rodgers showed some noticeable rust against the Panthers, throwing three interceptions in the 31-24 loss. A couple of them came on underthrown balls in tight coverage.

Rodgers had a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter after an onside kick, but wide receiver Geronimo Allison fumbled the ball in the final minutes to seal Green Bay's fate.

With Rodgers out of the mix, Green Bay will likely go back to Brett Hundley under center for the last two games of the season against the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions.