After leading the Packers to the Super Bowl XVL title as an MVP, the Packers need to be more transparent with Aaron Rodgers.
After leading the Packers to the Super Bowl XVL title as an MVP, the Packers need to be more transparent with Aaron Rodgers.

Apparently Mike McCarthy has learned something from last week.

This past week he gave Aaron Rodgers a lion’s share of reps for a guy that wasn’t going to play. Of course, McCarthy’s argument is that Rodgers wasn’t ruled out for Sunday’s game until Friday. But if you truly believe that, then you are also the few that believe that the “organizational” decision came straight from Dr. Pat McKenzie and not from Ted Thompson or McCarthy.

This whole situation has been fumbled from the beginning. If the Packers really didn’t have any intention of playing Rodgers, which is what I believe, why take the unnecessary reps in practice? McCarthy knew that Rodgers wasn’t going to play against the Steelers on Tuesday so why wait until Friday as Rodgers continues to stew about being waffled over.

But now McCarthy has said that he will make a decision much sooner.

“This is something clearly, after seeing Aaron practice for two weeks, this is something Ted Thompson and I need to sit down and we need to assess all the information and decide if it’s time for him to play,” McCarthy said. “Aaron wants to play, has wanted to play for the last couple of weeks.

“(He) fully accepts, understands everything going on with his injury. This is really a decision for Ted Thompson and I, representing the organization. That’s how it works.”

So apparently the “organization” is Thompson and McCarthy. That sure has to make the Packers’ second consecutive Hall of Fame quarterback feel awfully trustworthy of the “organization” that he plays for.

Who is Rodgers’ supposed to believe? Is it McCarthy, who has been filling up notebooks and sound bites with so much double talk over the last seven weeks that the broken left collarbone has turned into a national circus? Or is it Thompson, who has his eyes affixed to Rodgers’ contract, a piece of paper that doesn’t expire until 2020?

Rodgers has said time and time again that he is completely able to play. His mind and body are right to strap on his No. 12 jersey. Yet it’s the “organization” that is not only limiting his chances to prove himself but also limiting the rest of the team’s chances of advancing to the playoffs and/or making a deep postseason run.

Let’s call a spade a spade. The Packers got lucky when Rodgers fell into their lap with the 24th pick in 2005. They knew he was going to be good, but even they didn’t think that in eight years he would be so important for success that the Rodgers Watch has spiraled this far off the tracks.

Yet, instead of stomping out the swelling controversy, the Packers continued to fuel the flames with indecision, indirectness and ineptitude.

I’m not saying the Packers should make him available tomorrow, all I’m saying is the Packers should be a little more transparent. And I’m not talking about being transparent to the fans or media.

No, I’m talking about being transparent to the guy that matters most: Aaron Rodgers.

After being sacked 220 times as a starter, I think he’s earned the right for a little honesty from the organization he won a Super Bowl for.

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Cory Jennerjohn is from Wisconsin and has been in sports media for over 10 years. To contact Cory e-mail him at jeobs -at- yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter: Cory Jennerjohn

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