Brett Hundley had the best game of his career for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, but Mike McCarthy says a helmet-to-helmet hit on the quarterback ruined the team's final drive.

T.J. Watt sacked Hundley on the first play of Green Bay's final drive, which began with the score tied 28-28 and 80 seconds on the clock. There was no penalty called. On the next play, Jamaal Williams took a short pass out of bounds, stopping the clock with 32 seconds left.

"There was a hit on the first play," McCarthy said. "We all recognized it. The quarterback wasn’t checked. ...

"The play entry from the boundary went in late because I thought there was a helmet-to-helmet hit on Brett Hundley. You obviously check to see if your quarterback's OK. That's a natural reaction in the flow of the game. It might affect how you're going to call the second play, too. That's what happened as far as Jamaal. I don't fault Jamaal for going out of bounds on the second down.

"Jamaal didn't know we were out of the two-minute mode. . . . It's football. It happens. Hey, I don't want to see officials make calls in the fourth quarter of a game. It happens sometimes. It happened tonight. That's the reality of what happened. No excuses. That's where we were."

Hundley said he didn’t tell Williams to stay in bounds, since the plan was to play for overtime. The Pittsburgh Steelers forced the Packers to punt and drove for the game-winning field goal.

"It's football," Hundley said. "You've got to get up and keep playing. Threw a screen, and we just didn't communicate with Jamaal … letting him know what the situation is, and that's on me as the quarterback to let him know and let our offense know what our thoughts are going into the down."

The New England Patriots have claimed Martellus Bennett on waivers.

Bennett spent last season with the Patriots and was released this week by the Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers have cut Martellus Bennett with the failure to disclose a medical condition designation.

The Packers can file a grievance to reclaim the $4.2 million in remaining prorated signing bonus money.

Bennett's release comes hours after Packers coach Mike McCarthy ruled him out for this week because of a shoulder injury. 

Bennett hasn't played since he announced during the Packers' bye week that he was "pretty sure" this would be his last NFL season. 

Aaron Rodgers won't rush back from his broken right collarbone if it puts his long-term health at risk.

Rodgers was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 20th and must sit at least eight weeks.

"First of all, I want to be healthy," Rodgers said. "That's the most important thing. But if we're healthy in eight weeks and it would make sense to come back, then I'm going to come back."

Rodgers researched his options for several days before undergoing surgery.

"I would just temper expectations because, as much as I would love to get back out there this year, if it's not healed, then there's no conversation," Rodgers said. "If it is healed, then there's a conversation and we'll go from there."