Yes, Rodgers Meets With Packers’ Receivers

Contrary to (now) popular belief, Aaron Rodgers, the young receivers and the entire offense meet. A lot.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Dec 21, 2022 4:46 PM EST
Original:
Dec 21, 2022

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The world of aggregation media sometimes turns into a game of telephone. So it is with the bizarro narrative that Aaron Rodgers only recently began meeting with his receivers.

During a production meeting with the ESPN crew before the Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Rams, coach Matt LaFleur told the broadcast team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman that “we all started watching tape of both our Wednesday and Thursday practices together as a group.”

From there, Pro Football Talk morphed that story into Rodgers not getting to know rookie receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs and how “that directly contributed to the sluggish manner in which the season transpired.”

Starting from the start:

Late during Monday’s game, Buck said: “LaFleur said it changed when we all started watching tape of both our Wednesday and Thursday practices together as a group, so we could talk and Aaron can hear what Christian Watson is thinking and Romeo Doubs, and not only that but get to know them as people which maybe humanized him and took a little bit of the pressure off.”

Asked about that comment, and the PFT story, before Wednesday’s practice in light that it was common knowledge that the quarterbacks and receivers met frequently, LaFleur said:

“Yeah, I probably did not articulate that story very well, because we meet every day together. All our installs are together. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday installs are all together. We always meet post-practice on Thursday, Friday and then Saturday morning. And then the only meeting we didn’t do (together) early in the year was post-practice Wednesday meeting. That was the only one. We added that to all the other meetings that we do meet together. So, it was one probably 40-minute meeting.”

Those meetings are vital, especially on a team with some young players getting significant playing time.

“It’s important for, whether it’s the receivers, tight ends, whoever, to hear how the quarterback sees it,” LaFleur said. “He’s got the ball in his hands on every play. I remember Mike Vrabel when I was in Tennessee used to tell me all the time, ‘Matt, they’re not going to listen to you. They’re going to listen to the quarterback.’ That’s just kind of how it works.”

For Rodgers and the passing game, progress has been slow, though that had as much to do with injuries to Watson and Doubs as anything. Rodgers also missed several practices following a broken thumb.

Midway through training camp, Rodgers vented his frustration with the new receivers.

“We’re going to play our best guys when the season starts,” Rodgers said after Day 1 of joint practices against the Saints. “And whoever those guys are, those guys are going to get the reps. It’s the guys I trust the most and the guys the coaches trust the most. A lot of it is just the simple responsibility in the offense. Way before body positioning and movement and throw and all that stuff, are you in the right spot at the right time? Are you running the right route? It’s getting close to that time it’s going to count, and I need guys out there I can trust.”

Before Day 2 of joint practices, the receivers meeting moved into the quarterbacks room.

“It’s like a parent. If you hear one thing from your parent but you hear one thing from your friend, you might do what your friend tells you,” said receiver Randall Cobb, who was part of the meeting and joined with Allen Lazard in bolstering Rodgers’ thoughts.

“I’ve been saying the same thing that he said in the meeting today. It’s making sure they understand the opportunity that they have and not letting it squander away. Making sure that they’re focused on the little details in everything that we do and seeing the full picture. It’s not always about your route and what you have. It’s how you fit into the play concept and being in the right place at the right time.”

The meetings have taken place just about every day, including Rodgers, LaFleur and passing game coordinator Jason Vrable.

“The main thing is, the more time you are with somebody, you spend together, the more you get to know him,” LaFleur said. “That helped us kind of expedite just everybody learning one another. It’s kind of gotten, I think, a little bit overblown.”

A little bit.

Florio continued by ripping Rodgers (the whole post can be found here):

It’s amazing that Rodgers wasn’t insisting on it — or (if true) that he was resisting it.

But no one should be surprised. It was Rodgers who stayed away from all of the offseason program, but for a cameo appearance in connection with the mandatory minicamp. And it was Rodgers who didn’t gather his new corps of receivers for informal workouts, like so many other quarterbacks do on an annual basis.

For as smart as Rodgers is (or at least pretends to be) … it’s a jarring failure of Rodgers either to understand the importance of making a real human connection with his new teammates or to take steps to improve a situation that he actually knew would make it harder for Watson and Doubs to get as comfortable, and in turn as effective, as they can be.

The reality is Rodgers goes out of his way to make those real human connections. During lunch at training camp, Rodgers said he sometimes sits alone just to see who will sit next to him. One day, that was rookie defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt. Other times, he picks a table to help build connections.

“Early in camp, I made a point to sit next to Romeo a couple times, just to get to know his story, where he comes from, because that tells you a lot about the kid and the journey it took to get here,” Rodgers said on Aug. 22. “And then checking in with him and being intentional with Randall (Cobb) and Allen (Lazard) on how he’s doing, mentally, and if we need to have some deeper conversations or lighter conversations, whatever it might be.

“With Christian, it’s just staying on him. He was out for so long, that’s tough mentally to do, regardless of whether he’s behind or not from a preparation standpoint. It’s just hard to not be able to practice out there. So, it’s being intentional with those guys about conversations, friendship level, and getting those guys to feel comfortable here, because as much as we’re going to hold them accountable, this still is a tight-knit group and we want everybody to feel great about their role here, to feel great about their spot on the team, and those two as much as anybody.”

On Monday night, the Packers beat the Rams 24-12. Watson and Doubs combined for nine receptions. Watson missed his assignment on what could have been a late touchdown. Rodgers wasn't upset, though, because he knows Watson the player and the person.

“He had a couple opportunities tonight where he just didn’t do what he’s supposed to do,” Rodgers said. “That’s going to happen; he’s a rookie. He’s had an incredible stretch of games, he caught the ball again tonight really well. We have a joke when we’re watching film about doing the right thing: Do it if you want to catch touchdowns. But, yeah. You know, a couple good learning experiences for him. But he’s such a great kid. He really cares about it, and he’s so damn talented.”