Rodgers Gets Rolling; Here’s Why
GREEN BAY, Wis. – When Aaron Rodgers got off to a slow start to training camp, barely completing 50 percent of his passes the first three padded practices, it begged some questions.
Was the problem Rodgers, who was coming off a so-so first season in Matt LaFleur’s offense?
Was the problem nothing more than rust after a longer-than-normal layoff due to COVID-19?
Was it the defense, in general, and a touted secondary, specifically?
Was it the lack of weapons on a receiver corps that didn’t get any offseason help?
As it turns out, the problem was Rodgers.
The solution also was Rodgers, who’s gotten himself on a roll.
“I felt like the last couple days have been pretty good for me,” Rodgers said after Monday’s light practice. “Actually, it’s interesting. We were watching some old film of some of the cutups. As we do the installs, we’ll put some film alongside it. I just noticed something from a clip from 2010 actually. It kind of hit me. And I know it was 10 years ago but the next day I went out to practice and started working on what I saw on the film, and the last couple days kind of happened. It is interesting. It’s just a good reminder for all of us the tape of yourself can often be the most important to watch because you can always pick things up. I won’t get into exactly what I saw but it definitely has helped me the last couple days.”
The Packers weren’t in pads on Monday and plays were run at a teaching tempo. On Saturday and Sunday, however, Rodgers completed 68.6 percent of his passes. He’d be up around 75 percent if not for a few drops on Sunday.
His production is a good and necessary sign. If the team is going take the big step forward necessary to get past San Francisco and the rest of a loaded NFC to get to the Super Bowl, the Rodgers-led offense will have to be more effective than it was last season.
For all the talk of the freshness of Matt LaFleur’s scheme vs. the staleness of Mike McCarthy’s offense, Green Bay was no better in 2019 than 2018. In 2018, the Packers finished 14th in points and 12th in yards, and Rodgers completed 62.3 percent of his passes with a 97.6 passer rating. In 2019, the Packers finished 15th in points and 18th in yards, and Rodgers completed 62.0 percent of his passes with a 95.4 passer rating.
To improve will require better performances from mostly the same personnel. And that starts with No. 12.
“I feel like we’re much farther along than last year as far as the understanding of the offense,” Rodgers said. “Personally, I feel a lot more comfortable with some of the early installs that just maybe took a little longer last year footwork-wise and timing-wise. As a whole on offense, our communication has gotten a lot better. I think we’ve really streamlined a lot of different calls we had into simple things that are efficient. I think there’s a comfort level with everybody. I think Matt’s more comfortable as a second-year head coach and (Nathaniel) Hackett as a second-year offensive coordinator here. The working relationships we all have are really smooth on offense for us. We’re still a work in progress as an offense trying to find our timing. but the last couple days have been good days for the offense.”
