Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers sent Twitter up in flames Tuesday during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” when he said players who make too many mental mistakes shouldn’t play.
“Gotta start cutting some reps,” he said after explaining that around 20 percent of the Packers’ offensive plays in their 23-21 loss to the Washington CommandersThese are mental errors that have been highlighted.
Rodgers said that in past years, the Packers averaged, at most, seven mental mistakes per game, and noted they’re logging double digits on a regular basis during their 3-4 start to the 2022 season.
Onlookers didn’t take kindly to Rodgers publicly calling for unnamed players to be benched, including one of Rodgers’ former teammates. T.J. Lang, who started 94 games for the Packers on the offensive line from 2009 to ’16, tweeted this Tuesday afternoon: “I don’t think saying that publicly will help your young players gain any confidence.”
Rodgers doubled down on his comments in front of his locker on Wednesday afternoon, adding that anything he says on McAfee’s show, he says in person to his fellow players, too. The Packers are 23rd among the NFL’s teams with 18.3 point per game. TruMedia also ranks them 21st in total offensive EPA per snap, 23rd for drop percentage (5.6), and 30th for fumbles (15).
“I don’t think it should be a problem to any of those guys to hear criticism,” Rodgers said. “We all hear criticism in our own ways, and we’ve all got to be OK with it and take it in, process it, and if it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit. But if it fits, we’ve got to wear it and improve on those certain things. That’s what I said. I’m not going to be a robot. I don’t understand why people have a problem with things that are truthful. I’m calling things the way I see it. People who don’t think I need to air that stuff out, that’s their opinion. But I’m doing what I think is in the best interest of our guys.”
Rodgers said he has “tried a lot of different thing from a leadership standpoint” this season, while adding that he didn’t call anyone out by name on McAfee’s show. We can only guess who Rodgers is referring to when saying guys who make too many mental mistakes shouldn’t play. Rodgers trusts the most offensive skill players, if he reads between the lines of his previous comments. Aaron JonesAnd AJ DillonWide receivers Allen LazardAnd Randall CobbTight ends Robert TonyanAnd Marcedes Lewis.
Aaron Rodgers has said everything he wants to say @PatMcAfeeShowHe said it to him in person.
Re: Cutting reps for error-prone men:
“If people don’t think I need to air that stuff out, that’s their opinion, but I’m doing what I think is in the best interest of our guys.”
Full quote: pic.twitter.com/11xMlNNPnu
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) October 26, 2022
This leaves many receivers Sammy Watkins, Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Amari Rodgers, Juwann WinfreeAnd Samori ToureYou can’t have tight ends without being rigid Josiah DeguaraAnd Tyler Davis — a group consisting of guys Rodgers might trust, too, but includes at least one who he clearly doesn’t based on his comments. The offensive linemen are another group that has struggled this season. They have tried to blend Pro Bowlers returning form major injuries, players changing roles, general inexperience and, sometimes, simply a lack thereof.
“This is a business,” Watkins said. “If you’re not performing or executing or doing the things that you’re supposed to be doing, then I’m with Aaron. If I’m not playing well and I’m freaking up and busting plays, get me out of the game because that’s not helping the team. I think that’s a wake-up call to everybody, wake-up call to myself. I limit myself to only having one M.A. (missed assignment) a game and that’s my goal. It is impossible to have everything, but it does happen.
“I feel like everybody is on the hot seat right now, even myself. I gotta go out there and make plays, as many plays as I can, and do anything to get a (win), whether that’s run-blocking, pass-blocking, catching balls, deep, short.”
To fully grasp who is making the most mental mistakes, we’d need to sit down with coaches and players and hook them up to lie detector tests before running through each play. Only then would we truly know the specifics of each play — what route someone is supposed to run, who they’re supposed to block, etc. That’s not realistic, and coaches and players won’t throw guys under the bus in public press conferences.
Rodgers isn’t devoid of blame for the mistakes that have dragged down Green Bay’s offense, either.
“I think we all need to be on the details and that includes me,” Rodgers said. “If I need to have one-on-one extra conversations with those guys during the week, then I’m going to do that. That has been done to a degree. But I’m not just putting one or two guys on blast. I’m alerting everybody that this hasn’t been good enough and we’ve all got to do a better job.
“If one of those guys has a problem with it, I’m right here and I’d love to have a conversation. I love these conversations. I like conflict like that. I know it will bring us closer together, make us more friends, and strengthen our cohesion in the field. But nobody’s come to me and said, ‘I’ve got a problem with what you said.’ I think everybody knows, (coach) Matt (LaFleur) included, that everything’s got to take a little uptick, get a little better.”
Packers-Bills Wednesday injury report: pic.twitter.com/uAufV0CI5G
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) October 26, 2022
Rodgers also said on McAfee’s show that “maybe guys who aren’t playing, give them a chance.”
So who’s left that isn’t routinely playing that Rodgers thinks should get more time?
“I saw (Andre) Bad Moon Rison here, so I don’t know if he can play or not,” Rodgers joked. “There should be accountability with our guys. There is. There is accountability. Sammy (Watkins) was on a pitch, count, obviously, last week, so we couldn’t get more plays out of him, but we’d like to get Sammy back, though. Christian (Watson), hopefully can play this coming week. But when you’re struggling on offense, you gotta look at everything, the details, and there’s been too many, it seemed like, simple mental errors.”
Count the head coach as someone who didn’t have a problem with Rodgers’ Tuesday comments, either.
“We have to be truthful with one another,” LaFleur said. “Sometimes the truth hurts. … I just think that you have to get to the root of the truth. This gives you the chance to grow and learn. You can’t run away from that, ever. It’s no different from when we’re in those team meetings. You always call it how it is. I don’t think anybody’s off-limits, starting with myself.”
Where do the Packers go from there? Below.500 through seven playoff games, and still waiting for a date with the 5-1/1. BillsSunday night in Western New York
The Green Bay Packers currently stand 10.5-point behind the Buffalo Bills in week 8 @DKSportsbook
Aaron Rodgers is a single-digit ‘dog, but he has never had a career with double-digit numbers
— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) October 23, 2022
Rodgers said after Sunday’s loss to the Commanders that perhaps being such an underdog against the Bills is the best thing for the Packers, who are routinely favored with Rodgers as their quarterback.
The Packers might then wake up after their three-game slide.
“Every year, you’ve got to relearn how to win, and I just think that sometimes when you’re in a rut and you’ve lost some games in a row, it’s not a bad thing to kind of embrace that underdog role, embrace the fact that no one’s expecting you to win,” Rodgers said. “And in that scenario, you can maybe play a little freer. You might feel a little less pressure. Perhaps you can relax a bit in your head. I know that’s what I’ll be doing this week, and hopefully a lot of the guys as well.”
(Photo by Aaron Rodgers / Matt Schneidman The Athletic)
