LaFleur understands Rodgers’ take on joint practices
Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur loved this week’s joint practices with the Houston Texans, going so far as to say he’d like to have practices against multiple teams in the future.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, hated the practices. He hadn’t practiced against another team for 14 years and said, “I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t do it for another 14 years.”
Naturally, some out-of-town bloggers took the ball and ran with it for some easy click-bait. Take this from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio:
“First, the “audible thing.” Then, the “joint practice thing.” It’s hard not to wonder what “thing” will come next between one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history and his first-year head coach. … Rodgers continues to be the most powerful employee in the organization, and he’s showing everyone who wears the championship belt. They’ll let him gloat for now. The moment he shows real signs of slippage, however, the Packers will cut the cord and Rodgers will be playing for another team — just like his predecessor in Green Bay.”
Lost in Florio’s translation is the meaning behind Rodgers’ comments. Unlike a receiver vs. a defensive back or a tackle vs. a pass rusher, much of the quarterback’s competition is against the opposing defensive coordinator. When a defense runs vanilla schemes, there’s no mental challenge for the quarterback. From Rodgers’ perspective, the mental challenge is much greater facing his team’s defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine. It’s the same argument he’s used in the past in explaining why he believes the practice environment is more valuable than the preseason.
LaFleur was asked about Rodgers’ comments following Thursday’s victory over the Houston Texans.
“You know what, there’s a lot of things that a lot of players don’t like about training camp,” LaFleur said. “And you know, from his perspective, hey, I can understand where he’s coming from in some regard because it’s not like they're playing [their full scheme]. They run about four different coverages so it’s not overly complicated. It’s not like Pettine throwing everything at you. So, I get it from his perspective. But at the same time, there’s 10 other guys on the field with him on each play and it was great for us, especially when you talk about our run game getting some different looks to go against. I always respect his opinion, just like I do all our players, but I do still think it was beneficial for us.”
Rodgers was also critical of the full-speed kickoff drills that the teams conducted on Monday. Because of the speed and violence of the collisions, the NFL has been adapting its rules to decrease the number of concussions. Those rules have worked, with dramatic reductions in concussions last season.
“The one thing I will comment on that I thought he was dead right on was when you look at the kickoff,” LaFleur continued. “They ramped up their intensity level and we didn't match it, and it looked a little like we got it taken to us a little bit. That’s something that, moving forward that I probably wouldn’t do again is those full cover kickoff drills.”
