With Season Approaching, Rodgers Snaps at Myers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers has turned into Alice Cooper.
No more, Mr. Nice Guy.
Early in Green Bay Packers training camp, Rodgers was using a softer touch with rookie center Josh Myers than he did when Corey Linsley was a rookie in 2014.
“I think if Josh talked to Corey and Corey was like, ‘Hey, what’s 12 like? Is he kind of ripping your ass and getting on you a little bit?’ Josh would maybe describe me as a kinder, gentler quarterback at this stage,” Rodgers said on Aug. 4.
Fast forward 22 days to Thursday’s training camp practice, and Rodgers was neither kinder nor gentler toward his new center.
With the play clock winding down, Rodgers and Myers weren’t on the same page. Rodgers wanted the ball snapped and Myers didn’t oblige. Rodgers angrily called a timeout, then used some colorful words to tell Myers to snap the darn ball.
The reason for the change in tone is obvious. Early in August, it seems like there’s nothing but time. Late in August, with the regular-season opener at the powerful New Orleans Saints a little more than two weeks away, time is of the essence. Not only is Myers, a second-round pick, going to start, but fourth-round rookie Royce Newman is the front-runner at right guard. With Pro Bowl left guard Elgton Jenkins having moved out to left tackle to replace All-Pro David Bakhtiari, Rodgers could enter this season with an entirely new interior trio. Simply put, Rodgers needs Myers to play beyond his experience.
“I was very gentle and patient early in camp, and there has to be a switch because we’re getting a little closer,” Rodgers said after practice of his terse moment with Myers. “It’s important that he feels the urgency in my demeanor moving forward, especially with potentially a young person playing next to him. We need him to play more like a veteran and not like a rookie.
“The good thing is there’s a lot of situations that have happened over the last couple weeks that are great teaching moments. The more that we can put ourselves in situations like today, the more that we can learn from.”
Myers isn’t the only rookie to feel the heat from Rodgers this week. On Monday, Rodgers rolled out to his left. Stationed at the left sideline was running back Kylin Hill. Rodgers threw the ball to Hill, then gestured at him in exasperated fashion. Rodgers wanted Hill to take his route upfield. They discussed the play for about a minute on the side as practice continued.
“What happened today was a conversation that we had one time and the situation came up and he didn’t respond how we talked about,” Rodgers said of the miscommunication with Myers. “But I would guess, knowing him a little bit now, that that’ll be his one-time mistake on that. You need plays like that. I’m not mad about that. I’m frustrated he didn’t snap it at the moment but I’m not ultimately mad. I’m way happier it happened in practice than down in New Orleans.”
