GREEN BAY — Carefully leaning his throbbing throwing shoulder against a locker, Aaron Rodgers searched for the words.

The Green Bay Packers' 27-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons had been over for less than an hour, but the first-year starting quarterback's day had already been excruciatingly long.

It had begun not long after sunrise, inside the Lambeau Field training room, with the team's medical staff continuing its virtual 'round-the-clock treatment and rehab. It had taken him inside the Don Hutson Center practice facility for an 8:45 a.m. appointment with coach Mike McCarthy and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, as he tried to prove to them — and himself — that he could play.

It had entailed a valiant effort — reminiscent of You Know Who — in which he'd performed remarkably well (25-for-37 for 313 yards, with three touchdowns for a 109.4 passer rating) despite wincing in pain and grabbing his right arm after nearly every throw.

And it had ended, dishearteningly, with a loss, the result in large part thanks to his one mistake, an interception with 4 1⁄2 minutes left in the game that set up the Falcons' victory-clinching touchdown.

It was an effort his teammates had called "gutsy" and "heroic" — but ultimately for naught.

"I'm one of the leaders of this football team, and I felt like if there was any chance I could play, I should play," said Rodgers, who dislocated the shoulder at Tampa Bay seven days earlier and took only a dozen jog-through snaps over three days of practice during the week. "To be honest, this morning, when I went down to the Hutson Center, I didn't think I was going to play. I hadn't thrown in two days, I threw on Friday a little bit and it hurt, real bad.

"But when I went in the Hutson Center, I felt like I could do it. I knew it was going to be painful. I felt like I could deal with the pain."

Those longing for the bygone days of Brett Favre — with his 253 consecutive regular-season starts and 16 years of play-through-the-pain moments in Green Bay — will point out, and correctly so, that Rodgers failed to lead the Packers (2-3) to victory. But the kid still showed, even in defeat, what he's made of.

"He wanted to play as long as he felt he could help this team win the game," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "We weren't looking for a statement or martyrdom, (to) plant the flag on the hill at Iwo Jima,"  "If you can throw the ball and help us win, play. If you can't, you can't."

And he could — somehow.

"As far as my knowledge, he should not have played. But at the same time, when you have a guy who's determined like that, you have to let him go ahead," said wide receiver Greg Jennings, whose 25-yard touchdown from Rodgers tied the score at 17 with 10 minutes, 8 seconds to play.

"He wanted to put it on his shoulders — win or lose, rain, sleet, snow, whatever. He just wanted to be out there to lead his team. And that's what you need in a quarterback."

As a team, however, the Packers didn't deliver. The Falcons (3-2) built leads of 10-0 after the first quarter and 17-7 at the half through the air (rookie quarterback Matt Ryan threw two TD passes, while Roddy White caught eight passes for 132 yards and one TD, all in the first half), then salted away the victory on the ground (Michael Turner rushed 26 times for 121 yards and the game-clinching TD). The only play the Packers defense made all day was Tramon Williams' interception in the end zone.

"We didn't do anything — besides that interception — to really help the team win," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "I'm not going to make excuses for our defense. We're all professionals in here. You're (supposed to be) able to play at this level."

As a result, the Packers are now mired in their first three-game losing streak since a three-game skid in the middle of 2006, coach Mike McCarthy's first season. The loss, coupled with Chicago's 34-7 victory over Detroit, allowed the Bears (3-2) to move ahead of Green Bay and into first place in the NFC North.

"When you lose, things get magnified," defensive end Aaron Kampman said. "Now that we've had three in a row, we've got an electron microscope on us."

Even after Jason Elam's 41-yard field goal with 7:19 left gave Atlanta a 20-17 lead, the Packers had a chance to win with a decisive touchdown drive. Instead, Rodgers was called for intentional grounding on a failed screen pass, and on third-and-19 from the Packers' 31-yard line, he forced what he called "a stupid throw" that Michael Boley intercepted.

When the Packers botched the onsides kick following Donald Lee's 4-yard touchdown with 1:56 left, and the defense failed to stop Turner on third-and-1, Rodgers' day — which started with him telling McCarthy, "I want the ball, I want to be out there" — ended in defeat.

"People outside the locker room are going to say what they want to say. But I think it's important to show the guys in this locker room — like I feel I did against New England (in 2006) — that I'm going to put my body on the line at all times and play, regardless of what I've got," said Rodgers, who wore a protective strap to keep his shoulder in place.

"Today was probably the worst pain I've had to deal with. This was definitely worse than breaking my foot (against the Patriots). But I felt like I needed to play. I felt like I made one critical error, and it probably cost us the game. But, I put it all out there. And that's the most disappointing thing."