Some individuals are strong enough to recognize that just because a player lights up at training camp it doesn’t mean that will translate to regular-season success. Every year, there are training camp crushes. Those who look amazing in shorts but don’t produce in pads. The strong know to keep expectations level.
I am not strong.
Reports from the Green Bay Packers’ practices are very promising. Matt LaFleur’s offense has been simmering for over a year now, seasoned with just the right jargon and terminology, a dash play concepts that flow from a script, and stirred by getting the players to buy-in, and, baby, we’ve got a hell of a stew now.
And it all starts with starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers has not only fully bought into the offense but is thriving in it.
With another offseason to learn the ins and outs of LaFleur’s system, the concepts will inevitably click more quickly and have a natural flow, and we’re seeing this in reports from training camp.
Rodgers and Adams, the offensive dream team, are clicking as well as ever, completing impressive plays with an almost psychic connection. Rodgers isn’t only sharing the ball with his favorite receiver of course. A generous god, Rodgers is making sure Allen Lazard, EQ, MVS, Reggie Begelton, and Jake Kumerow are involved as well.
Rodgers has been on fire the last four practices; the same way one might say the sun is on fire. And, interestingly, this seems to be due to something he himself discovered.
According to PackersNews.com, Rodgers told reporters he’d been watching film of himself from 2010, which was a pretty good year for the Packers. He discovered a detail from that tape he needed to adapt to his current playstyle.
“It kind of hit me,” Rodgers said. “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.”
Rodgers was characteristically coy about what it was he discovered, refusing to divulge specifics. Whatever his discovery, the results have been astounding.
Could it be something with his footwork, a common criticism of post-2015 Aaron Rodgers? Or his tendency to avoid the middle of the field, something Peter Bukowski expertly analyzed?
Whatever the discovery, Rodgers is dominating in practice, playing with a confidence and swagger the two-time MVP has been sparse with in recent years.
Yes, it’s only training camp. We still actually need to play the games. But if this is the Aaron Rodgers that walks onto the field Week 1, this could be a truly special season.
Matt Hendershott is a Packers fan and Miller High Life enthusiast from Northwest Ohio. He has a Master of Arts in Media and Communication from Bowling Green State University. You can follow him on Twitter @MattHendershott.
2 responses to “Aaron Rodgers thriving in training camp”
You are right to get excited about AR. If he was a rookie or an undrafted FA or even a second year man expected to make the year 2 jump, skepticism is warranted but AR is none of those and his performance is worthy of excitement.