We had our first Aaron Rodgers media availability this week. While it wasn’t as eventful as last season’s, there was still plenty of stuff to talk about.
Rodgers spoke about his offseason practices, Davante Adams, retirement, the team’s wide receiver room, and more. Let’s discuss the main points.
Retirement & Davante Adams
There were, of course, several questions about retirement and Davante Adams. Perhaps surprisingly, the two seem to be linked. Adams reportedly put a lot of weight into the fact that Rodgers wouldn’t commit to more than one season.
Rodgers spoke about the mental grind that it takes in both the offseason and during the season to be able to play well on Sundays and it certainly seems like this could be his last season. He also made a point to say that he’ll never advertise that it’s his last season and that he thinks his body has enough to keep going.
One thing is for sure, we’re going to have a lot to write about again next offseason.
One more note, the implication in Adam’s statement and Rodgers’ implication is that Adams doesn’t think Jordan Love would be a good enough QB to get him to the hall of fame. Adams will turn 30 this season, so there is a legitimate shot that he has three great years left max. Love must not have shown much at all in practice if one or two Rodgers years out of three more A+ seasons wouldn’t be enough.
Of course, Adams said it isn’t because of Love and he likely believes that he has more than three more seasons. Something to think about.
Young Players
A lot of ink has been devoted to criticizing Rodgers’ choice to only attend the mandatory versions of off-season work. Like many Packers things that get a lot of ink, it’s nonsense.
Years ago, Rodgers was criticized endlessly for not meeting with teammates to throw during the lockout. In week 1 of that season, the Packers put up 42 points against the Saints.
Rodgers has a unique way of training in the offseason that sometimes includes things like enemas. It works for him. It may not, and really probably wouldn’t work for most of the other Packers players.
Rodgers made sure to mention that his workout decisions is really only overanalyzed by the media. And talked about how before he can start to get chemistry with any of his young teammates, they need to learn the playbook.
It makes sense that Rodgers wants to train on his own. That said, I hope the media keeps giving him flak for it, because why not put another chip on his shoulder. I want to see a Sammy Watkins or Allen Lazard 1,200 yard and 12 touchdown season.
Wide Receiver Room
Rodgers seems surprisingly happy with the receiver room. He loves Randall Cobb, has faith in Allen Lazard, and thinks Sammy Watkins will play a lot better as a Packer than he has for prior teams.
Notably, he didn’t mention any of the rookies. Choosing to just mention that he likes production more than potential. He may have made a slip there. It looked like he wanted to say the team needs more production at one point. Which would imply the signing of a veteran free agent. Someone like Julio Jones or Will Fuller could really round out the roster at this point.
Rodgers also talked about Aaron Jones’s ability in the passing game. Don’t be surprised if the running back has 100 targets this season. I could see Jones lining up in the slot, getting jet touch passes, toasting linebackers with option routes, and being targeted on a lot more screens this year. The team will have to be creative to move the ball and Jones is a great muse for a creative coach.
Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan currently living in Utah. You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.
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