NFL teams are always wary of their players taking part in off field activities that could potentially result in injury, but a charity softball game doesn't usually rank as a high risk affair. That being said, the Green Bay Packers will be more-than-slightly miffed that one of their stars suffered a nasty looking injury in their annual charity game. Clay Matthews, whilst pitching, took a line drive straight to the face and immediately rushed off the field. The six-time Pro Bowler was clearly in a fair amount of pain, and according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, was immediately rushed to the emergency room for an assessment on a potential broken nose. Matthews has since revealed on Twitter that he did in fact suffer a broken nose in the below incident, and that he will require surgery once the swelling has subsided. 

This looks seriously painful, but it could've been so much worse...

Matthews' opposing captain on the day, Pro Bowler receiver Davante Adams, revealed that his teammate was alright and had just suffered a "boo-boo". 

“I wanted to let everybody know Clay is all right. He’s got a little boo-boo on his nose, but he’ll be all right. He’s a tough guy.” Adams said per NBC's Kelly Price.

Pitcher safety was clearly prioritised following the unfortunate incident as a protective net that is often used in the MLB during batting practice was brought out. In the end, Matthews' absence didn't seem to bother his team on the day as tight-end Robert Tonyan Jr. hit a walk-off home run to secure a 10-9 win over Team Adams. 

Though a broken nose is far from ideal, the injury initially seemed like it could've been much worse and Matthews is certainly lucky he wasn't struck on a more dangerous area of his head. 

The injury may keep Matthews out of training camp for a while but it shouldn't prevent the veteran pass rusher from being ready for the preseason as he enters his tenth year in the league. 

The 32-year-old stalwart is coming off one of his less-productive seasons having notched just 7.5 sacks in 2017, but in Mike Pettine's new defense he should get a new lease of life. 

2018 is also a contract year for Matthews, so he'll likely have that extra bit of motivation to prove he's still worth a future investment in Green Bay. 

The Packers will certainly be relieved that the bizarre injury wasn't something that kept their defensive star off the field for too long.