November 5th, 2009

Rodgers and Practice

Aaron Nagler in Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy

McCarthy yesterday:

I think (Rodgers) has definitely shown that he can play on limited practice, just for the three or four weeks coming off of the shoulder injury last year

McCarthy last year after Rodgers had missed said three or four weeks of practice:

I think you can see the lack of practice times kind of showing up in his play. He’s a young quarterback. It’s just the little things, the footwork, timing and so forth. That’s really his frustration…The lack of practice is the thing we’re hoping to get over because of his medical situation and get back to just keep improving on the fundamental things of quarterback play

I’m not really making a point here other than to say that when Rodgers didn’t practice for a few weeks last season, his fundamentals got worse and worse as the games went on, which is understandable. But coming off a game where his fundamentals looked terrible, it’s a concern. And yes, I look forward to everyone calling me a hater.

38 Responses to “Rodgers and Practice”

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I’m less upset about your hatin’ on Rodgers than your insistence that McCarthy be held accountable for the reality of last year. If McCarthy SAYS that Rodgers played great without practice, then Rodgers did. No need to confuse him with facts.

Holly said in November 5th, 2009 at 10:54 am

Aaron, you’re not a hater and your statement is correct. However, what can McCarthy do? Rodgers is hurt and needs time to rest. Should he start Flynn? Should he make him practice and possibly exacerbate the problem. Your points are well taken, but I don’t see a better solution. Let’s just hope he heals in the next week or so.

jrarick said in November 5th, 2009 at 10:57 am

I must assume that MM has the same feelings when it comes to his horsecrap OHfensive line. They are the reason Rodgers is hobbling around. That and piss-poor game planning.

Ron La Canne said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:07 am

Exactly Holly, no need to confuse McCarthy with the facts (there’s enough confusion to go around already). Perhaps its time to call on the team Chaplin. :>)

Hopefully Rodgers will be ready – my biggest fear last year was an injury to Rodgers after I watched the other 2 rookies in the preseason (6-10 would have looked good if the Rookies had to start). It ‘appeared’ they did not leave themselves any solid backup plan but bet it all on Rodgers. He has takin a lickin and kept on tickin… but he will not last a whole season at the rate of abuse he’s taking.

greenbaypackerbob said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:10 am

Come on people step it up !

Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers
Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers
Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers
Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers
Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers
Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers
Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers
Nagler hates Aaron Rodgers

That is the sole reason why Cheesehead TV exists, just to hate on Aaron Rodgers….

He even spells it out in the site name, pretty sneaky, but I caught it.

Cheese H.ates E.verything A.aron D.oes

Satori said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:15 am

jrarick – What can McCarthy do? Acknowledge that last season his quarterback struggled with the fundamentals when he missed extensive practice, rather than spout some happy horsecrap about how everything is fine. I’m just so tired of the McPositive bullshit.

Aaron Nagler said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:15 am

I think that we need to feature a HEAVY dose of running with Ahman Green and Ryan Grant. We need to run at least 60% of the time against TB to give Rodgers time to rest, and limit hits on him.

Of course this means that McCarthy is going to have Rodgers throwing deep all game…

PackersThad said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:25 am

You sound like Ugly Kid Joe.

Franklin Hillside said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:30 am

let matt flynn play! he will save the season! TT is the greatest GM ever…oh wait i cant post that, its not april’s fool anymore…dang!

alfredomartinez said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:35 am

Aaron, you don’t hate Aaron. You hate Aaron. ;)

PackersRS said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:36 am

The difference from last year is that Rodgers had a full offseason of hardcore prep, went to all OTA’s and minicamp. He is far mroe prepared due to the repetition.

If I hear a ’stats guy’ statement about AR on the intertubes again I will puke. People putting two words together in an attempt to create fictitious word soup. What the hell is a stats guy and can you even name one in the NFL? Thought not….

CSS said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:51 am

“The difference from last year is that Rodgers had a full offseason of hardcore prep, went to all OTA’s and minicamp”
-
Huh? He did all that before last season as well. In fact, he’s done that every year since he was drafted…

Aaron Nagler said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:55 am

He didn’t work with the same people at the same level the prior year, Aaron. He had a full year of film also.

CSS said in November 5th, 2009 at 11:56 am

“He didn’t work with the same people at the same level the prior year” – again, HUH? He worked with McCarthy, Philbin and Clements. The only difference between two summers ago and this past summer was that he had the Favre drama hanging over his head.

Aaron Nagler said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

can we fire MM, and TT pleaseeee…then if shit dont get better, then maybeeeeee ill lay some blame on A-rod!

alfredomartinez said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Aaron, McCarthy is being a leader. He has to plant confidence in his troops. Absolutely must. He is not speaking to the media, but to his men, which in the end is all that matters. Really, I have no problem with this.

The bigger problem is wondering how he plants confidence in this team when they were clearly beaten twice by the Vikings. That should be interesting, especially as they face the Cowboys.

jrarick said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

jrarick, McCarthy is the farthest from a leader that I’ve seen a coach be in a long time. He’s too soft to be a leader. The last thing this team need is another pad on the back. And I don’t buy that it’s only in front of the cameras that he acts that way. It’s not the first time we see him acting like this and nothing gets resolved.

PackersRS said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

Have you seen this take from Ross Tucker in SI on McCarthy blowing the Vikes game?

http://bit.ly/31CWlS

bleedsgreen said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:21 pm

bleedsgreen – yeah, had a brief back and forth with him about it on Twitter yesterday. Pelissero chimed in as well.

Aaron Nagler said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:26 pm

jrarick – forgive me, but that’s just crap. Remember his statement last week – “We’re a confident team and we damn well should be”? Everyone said “ohhh he’s sending a message to his team, blah blah blah” How did that work out?
-
Being a leader, a real leader, is showing the people you’re leading the respect they deserve by acknowledging the reality of the situation – not painting rosy pictures no matter what circumstances may say to the contrary.

Aaron Nagler said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

McCarthy cannot afford for Rodgers stats to go down… if they do, then not only is the team losing but his choice for QB is failing (while ‘you know who’ is winning) — it will be very hard for him to hold ground at that point.

I wonder if Aaron has not been told to take the sack rather than try and make a play when necessary? (sacks do not hurt a QBs stats). Last year I watched McCarthy call 2 (yes 2) QB sneaks back to back on the goal line!! (this happened on more than 1 occasion). Why do that with Grant and others in the backfield? why risk injury? -sure helps AR stats … and that is the only thing left keeping MM & TT butt out of the fire. The minute Rodgers begins to falter (like end of last season) the dynamic duo is in serious trouble.

Point: Rodgers will play because Tampa is an easy target (better stats). If it were a tougher team, AR would sit (sitting does not effect stats). Plus, if a tougher team wins (while AR sits) MM has an excuse.

greenbaypackerbob said in November 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pm

PackersRS sez: “jrarick, McCarthy is the farthest from a leader that I’ve seen a coach be in a long time.”
————————-
Agreed. McCarthy is at best a manager, and most definately not a leader.
————————-
My take away from the MM comments in Aaron’s blog topic is that MM will say anything to justify or rationalize away the current issue. Even if later on it seems totally contractictory to other statements he makes. The net results is that it’s all BS and I’m starting to tune him out.

Jim in DC said in November 5th, 2009 at 1:09 pm

Aaron- an almost totally unrelated question for you. What is the date for extending contracts and still being able to put it towards this seasons cap. It has to be fast approaching and I would like to see a couple players locked up and use the 20 million or so we have left under the cap used the best it can. I’d think extending Pickett a couple years and putting the majority of the money on this years cap and extending Collins and giving him a nice raise while putting about ten million of it towards this years cap would be financially benifitial to us. Just a simple answer as to the date would suffice but an article on your opinion of what we could or should do regarding midseason extensions would be wonder. Thanks.

wgbeethree said in November 5th, 2009 at 1:20 pm

wgbeethree – not sure of the exact date this season, but last year it was Nov. 1st, so I’m sure it’s close/past already.

Aaron Nagler said in November 5th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

I had the exact same thought as Jim in DC when I read your post. McCarthy’s trying to spin this every which way so it won’t be his fault. But it’s sure starting to look like a lot of it is indeed his fault.

foundinidaho said in November 5th, 2009 at 2:10 pm

Well I certainly hope it hasn’t passed yet. Doesn’t make much sense at all to just pretty much throw away the ”extra” 20 million or so in salary cap when we have about 8 or so players we are likely to resign. I’m far from a salary cap expert and with the CBA questions I really have no idea what’s going on with the cap next year but completely oversimplified you can give say 50 million in contracts over 4 years and ‘’save” about 5 million a year against the cap by using up the 20 million you have left over this year. To me that’s 20 million for a high quality free agent or future extension for ”nothing” just by being a little proactive. There have to be at least one or two players you know you want to resign already. Being able to reward players you think deserve it with more money while saving cap space in the future? Seems like a win/win situation to me. Not sure why you wouldn’t do it unless I’m way off on how this all works.

wgbeethree said in November 5th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

MM press conference transcript on Packers.com after Vikes game – it speaks for itself (MM on MM).

“There are so many more positives to our football team in my view than the negatives, but the thing I don’t like about is the valley between our positives and our negatives is too big right now. The way we play at an extremely high level…our bad plays need to be closer to our good plays is the point I am making.” (that’s a point??)

again,

“It’s not the fact that you are going to fool offenses. You might want to make them declare a different way and you’re throwing hot. You may win the declaration aspect of it, but the reality of it is to try to create an edge, a better leverage point for your defense on their offensive player. That’s really what it comes down to.” (huh ????? – yeah).

one last one,

“I understand the schematics; trust me, I do. That’s how we make a living but it still comes down to fundamental football. Once again, we’ve done a lot of positives. *We’re 4-3.* We need to learn from this experience, but to go out and think you are going to trick everybody every time you blitz, it’s not realistic, especially with a veteran quarterback. He’s probably the most experienced quarterback in the history of the NFL.” (so I traded him !) lol

() mine

greenbaypackerbob said in November 5th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

Aaron I completely agree with you on this. Arod was not great for the 4 or 5 games he was hurt last year, and I don’t see it being any different now. I’m surprised he’s made it this far due the the beating he’s taken every game.

8-8 and MM/TT will get 1 more (useless) year

Bearmeat said in November 5th, 2009 at 3:38 pm

Rodgers will be fine. He doesnt have #4 on the other sideline the rest of the season. Two games of overcompensating, manifested as holding the ball too long, and not willing to pull it down and run; instead hanging in the pocket to find a bigger play downfield. Pressure is off AR, I think he lights it up the rest of hte season.

bomdad said in November 5th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

Rodgers is certainly not the problem here. McCarthy is and TT is. Has been for a long time. Just check his stats against ANY qb during their first 2 yrs and he’s way ahead. If he doesn’t get support around him, he’ll end up like Marino, no super bowls, lotsa records.

Just Pete said in November 5th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

Rodgers being hurt really scares me, because who else do we have. Yet another reaso. To SIGN A FREE AGENT. Seriously, it won’t kill you, just try to help the team for once.

And to everyone who said that this site hates A-Rod, I’m pretty sure that it hates Brent, and I dare you to find a Packers fan who hates both.

PACKERS said in November 5th, 2009 at 5:05 pm

Dear Aaron,
You’re a hater.
.
Regards, Oppy
.
.
P.S. – Okay, you’re not really a hater.

Oppy said in November 5th, 2009 at 6:09 pm

Why not try Flynn, rest AR? TB might be an opportunity to get Flynn some experience before he has to come in an emergency. You can always bring AR back in if needed.
If I hear that comment about stat padding again, I’ll puke. There is never any evidence offered for a dumb opinion like that. As though players don’t care about winning. What the statistics show is that AR is moving the ball down field, but failing sometimes to get it in the end zone for various reasons, one is the errors. He’s only had a year and a half game experience and it’s a work in progress.
According to a Harris tweet, the players are still supporting the coaches.

Glorious80s said in November 5th, 2009 at 6:52 pm

As a rank amateur, I can’t say definitively where our biggest problems lie (other than not being able to block my grandma), but I honestly believe Aaron Rodgers is NOT (repeat NOT!!) one of them. My only complaint on him is that at every presser he puts blame on himself FIRST for maybe holding the ball too long. He COULD say, “I should have known I had to get rid of it in 1.5 seconds instead of holding it for 2.5 seconds.” His humility is giving his B.S. tackles an out. Those two guys probably shave w/o mirrors in the morning. How else can they face it?

Other than that, I have no idea what’s wrong with our team.

retiredgrampa said in November 5th, 2009 at 7:56 pm

Okay, Aaron, so why is it that you aren’t ready to dispatch McCarthy for ritual seppuku? He can’t build an offensive line AND his bullshit annoys you. What am I missing here?

Cuphound said in November 5th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

Aaron,

You’re just playing with semantics… It’s like a child playing with ants on a sidewalk….. It’s kinda fun but in reality it’s a useless endeavor….

WoodyG said in November 6th, 2009 at 5:44 am

Cuphound – because I can’t get past the nagging feeling that he’s been hamstrung by his General Manager, and that if he had even a slightly more mature roster, he would become a better coach. Just a hunch.

Aaron Nagler said in November 6th, 2009 at 9:23 am

Woody-
“ants on a sidewalk” – that’s funny.

But while actions speak louder than words, words do mean things and without good analysis GB better hope for a soft schedule every year, particularly if TT is allowed to pick players and MM to coach. Then again, in this case, the actions are the real problem (I go with Aaron on this one).

TT needs to go play with another ant farm.

.

greenbaypackerbob said in November 6th, 2009 at 11:51 am

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