We — and by we, I mostly mean Shawn — have always complained loudly about Aaron Rodgers not playing in the preseason.
It seems someone has gotten the message. There’s no substitute for game action. Rodgers was a surprise starter on Saturday night against Washington. He led one drive, which ended in a touchdown pass to Martellus Bennett.
Rodgers is most certainly playing again this week against Denver. He took reps with the No. 1 offense on Tuesday, which essentially spells that out. We have even heard rumors Rodgers might play the full first half.
These developments are surprising because of Rodgers’ disdain for the preseason. In fact, he has stated that he feels practice prepares him better for the season than games. We call that pish posh.
If Rodgers had played at an MVP level from the beginning of the 2016 season, this would be a moot point. But we all know he didn’t. Could it have had something to do with the whopping nine snaps he played during the preseason?
Yes, it could have.
In other news, cornerback Damarious Randall is out of concussion protocol. He was on the field on Tuesday. Randall is still likely the No. 1 slot corner, but we can see him having to hold off Quinten Rollins and LaDarius Gunter for that job.
Gunter was moved to the slot last week. Rollins has supposedly been playing well in practice, but has been garbage in the games. Of course, he’s been lining up outside. He’s much better suited for the slot.
And finally, running back Ty Montgomery is back in action, after suffering some sort of “soft-tissue” injury. In his absence, rookie Jamaal Williams did nothing to impress. So the running back controversy that might have been seems dead.
In week three of the preseason, we might finally see something like the Packers’ full arsenal. And we might see it for two quarters of football. There’s something to get excited about.