Packers Need Their Quarterback at Offseason Practices
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers attended last year’s Green Bay Packers minicamp.
“I’m just here so I won’t get fined,” Rodgers said with a laugh.
Even with the trade of Davante Adams and the addition of three receivers in the 2022 NFL Draft, Rodgers elected to skip the three weeks of voluntary organized team activities.
History was on his side. After skipping OTAs in 2020, Rodgers won MVP. After skipping everything in 2021, Rodgers won MVP. So, there was nothing wrong with his personal routine.
“The most important thing is the mental part right now,” Rodgers said. “As much as there’s conversation around the importance of me being here and how much that means to the young guys, the most important thing for the young guys right now is to learn the offense.
“Like I’ve said many times, there’s two offenses. There’s the offense on paper and then there’s the offense that gets run on the field. They need to learn the offense on paper first and, once they get that down, then we’ll have plenty of time in training camp to get the other offense down.”
There’s truth to what Rodgers said. Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and Samori Toure couldn’t get a grasp of the line-of-scrimmage changes and on-the-fly adjustments without knowing the basics of the offense. Rodgers didn’t need to be there for those things to happen.
And that Rodgers wasn’t there to gain even a little bit of on-field chemistry with the new receivers?
“I think a lot of times those are just story fillers for slow times in the offseason,” Rodgers said. “There’s important conversations to be had, but it comes down to the willingness of those players to motivate themselves, to be good note-takers, to listen, to remember things, and it’s on me to make sure the message is very clear and concise to them when it’s delivered.
“Jason (Vrable, the receivers coach) has to be an extension of me and my voice in their room. We’ve got my closest buddy on the team with those guys every single day, Randall Cobb, and he’s been here the entire time just about. So, he’s passing along everything they need to know about playing with me and expectations and signals and unspoken communication and nonverbal stuff.”
Who knows if Rodgers’ presence for the voluntary practices in May and June would have had any impact on a season that fell well short of expectations.
It couldn’t have hurt, though, because “the offense that gets run on the field” wasn’t worth a darned. It wasn’t in Week 1. It wasn’t in Week 18. It wasn’t for large stretches in between.
Green Bay went from first in points scored in 2020 and 10th in 2021 to 14th in 2022. Without Adams there to help make magic, Rodgers had one of the worst seasons of his career. He threw 11 fewer touchdown passes and eight more interceptions than in 2021. His yards per attempt crashed from 8.2 in 2020 and 7.7 in 2021 to 6.8 in 2022.
Looking ahead to 2023, if Rodgers and the Packers give it another shot, the team needs a quarterback that’s fully committed.
The reason has nothing to do with Rodgers throwing 40 passes to Watson during “live settings” at the 10 or 12 practices. Rather, it’s about the message sent by a team leader.
During Mike McCarthy’s lengthy tenure, the Packers generally had perfect attendance – or at least close to it – for the voluntary practices. That’s changed. And not just in Green Bay. More veteran players around the NFL have opted to skip the voluntary sessions.
However, it’s worth noting reigning NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes has already said his late-season ankle injury won’t keep him out of this spring’s OTAs. Mahomes participated in 2022, as well, as the Chiefs worked with a new receiver corps.
It was more than Rodgers last offseason, with Allen Lazard, Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Jaire Alexander and Adrian Amos among the starters who joined Rodgers in skipping most or all of the voluntary practices.
It’s a subtle message. Or, maybe it’s not so subtle. If the team leaders aren’t at practice, maybe it’s just not as important.
Perhaps that’s why general manager Brian Gutekunst, speaking at his season-ending news conference, said about as strongly as possible that he wants Rodgers leading the way at the voluntary practices.
“We want all our players here in the offseason,” Gutekunst said last month. “When guys are together, first of all, I think there’s more energy in the building [and] certainly when your quarterback and leader’s in the building. So, we want all our guys here. It’s optional, voluntary, as you guys know, with the exception of the mandatory minicamp.
“We invest a lot in these guys and we would certainly like that investment back from all of our guys. But there’s rules for a reason and they’re negotiated with the CBA, so I know a lot of the veteran players probably need less of that. But, sometimes, our younger players need those guys here, as well.”
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