Watch: Rodgers Pays Tribute to His Favorite Opponent
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Aaron Rodgers on Sunday will lead the Green Bay Packers into the 200th game of the rivalry against the Chicago Bears.
Rodgers has owned the Bears, with an 18-5 record as a starter – a lopsided record that might have been even more dominant if not for the broken collarbone sustained on the opening drive of the 2013 game at Lambeau Field.
There have been some epic clashes over the years, including those against future Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, whom Rodgers called his favorite Bears player to go against.
“I remember specifically in 2009, we were playing them at home, and every time I checked, he checked to something, and the checks he was saying were super-inappropriate,” Rodgers said as part of a much longer and entertaining answer in the video above. “I think it was pre kind of the miking up of the guards, where every single word was heard, because I promise you if that happened today, some of that stuff would had to have gotten bleeped out. But we had a lot of fun with it.”
Chicago’s defense is one of the best in the NFL, entering this week’s game ranked fourth in the league in scoring. It figures to regain the services of Pro Bowl defensive end Akiem Hicks, who has spent the last nine games on injured reserve, but standout second-year inside linebacker Roquan Smith was placed on IR on Monday. He leads the team with 100 tackles. A first-round pick in 2018, Smith is a rare inside linebacker capable of playing at a high level on all three downs.
“Roquan obviously made himself into a really solid player. He’s a sideline-to-sideline guy, a big tackler, so that’s going to hurt them a little bit,” Rodgers said.
