Has Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers ever been criticized as much as he’s being criticized right now?
Not to our recollection.
That theme continued on Thursday, when NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell told Colin Cowherd Rodgers is part of the Packers’ problem.
“He’s very quick to break down in the pocket. So all I’m saying is, he’s part of the problem. I think for many people, the feeling is the receiving corps is not very good, it’s not a great o-line, and those things are probably true right now. Certainly, his receivers have struggled at times to get open versus man coverage. They don’t do a lot of combination routes to help them get open versus man, but I think he’s been very quick to break down. There’s a random nature to his play that can work at times — and he’s probably the master of it — but it’s very, very difficult to play consistently like that week after week after week.”
Here’s the full clip.
Not terribly surprising, at least in terms of the context for the statement. Cowherd has been banging the drum for the anti-Aaron Rodgers faction.
First, Cowherd questioned Rodgers’ leadership (which we agreed with). Then he presented some anecdotes where teammates found Rodgers moody and standoffish.
Now, do we think Cosell’s assessment is accurate?
Well, watch the film. The answer is yes.
We know the Packers’ offensive line is a dumpster fire, but Rodgers is looking for a way out the pocket pretty much from the moment he gets the snap. Hard to go through your progressions or run the play as designed that way.
The Packers’ play caller, Tom Clements, seems to agree. So does ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski.
He said virtually the same thing about Rodgers on PTI, Thursday.
“I’ve been very disappointed with his play the last couple weeks. And I like to call the term “action figure,” and when a quarterback gets in the action figure mode, I get very concerned. By that I mean, he starts looking for areas to run, rather than throw. At the top of the drop, the legs get wider, he’s looking to get out of the pocket, the ball drops down, the face mask drops down looking for somewhere to go. Aaron Rodgers is great at extending plays. I get it. I understand that, but that can’t be the mode of operation consistently in the NFL and that’s what’s happening with Aaron right now. He’s trying to make the plays outside of structure, rather than just staying with the play call, going through his progression and getting rid of the football. I am concerned about Rodgers right now.”
Jaworski also mentioned that he dropped Rodgers from the No. 1 spot on his quarterback board for the first time in who knows how long.
We could care less about that, but it would be nice if Rodgers got back to his old ways and did so against a team with a real, live defense (Detroit doesn’t count).
And by the way, where’s the preplanned and rehearsed R-E-L-A-X this year, bro? Has that t-shirt slogan already played itself out?
Did Jordan sell enough of those shirts?