Packers coach Mike McCarthy says quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ shoulder is sore after he was hit during Sunday’s NFC championship game victory over the Bears at Soldier Field.
McCarthy didn’t seem overly concerned Monday, saying every player has bumps and bruises at this point in the season.
The Packers quarterback appeared to take a shot on his right shoulder from Bears defensive back Danieal Manning during his 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of Sunday’s game.
We were all witness to a high level of quarterback play during the 2010 season. Twenty two 3,000-yard passers. Ten quarterbacks had at least 25 touchdowns. Four with passer ratings of 100.0 or better. These are the reasons why many are calling this the “era of the quarterback.”
The strong quarterback play of Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Mark Sanchez this weekend led their teams to the conference championship round.
Let’s focus on Rodgers, because his brilliant performance against the Falcons was nearly without precedent and one of the top performances in recent memory. Rodgers is trending right now, leaving many to opine he’s among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.
Chatting about quarterback play earlier with resident NFL signal caller Kurt Warner, he came way from Rodgers’ most recent performance with a familiar feeling. It reminded him a lot of his own performance from a year ago in the wild-card round against Rodgers.
He’s right. Here are the two stat lines:
Warner: 29-33, 379 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT.
Rodgers: 31-36, 366 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, rush TD.
Watching Rodgers now, Warner told me he’s developed an appreciation for his game.
“As a guy who has played the position, I appreciate guys who play the position a particular way,” Warner said. “What I love about Rodgers is he’s playing the game great from inside the pocket. He’s dropping back, making his reads, is accurate with his throws and is making good decisions. He’s prototypical. I appreciate guys that play the position the way I believe it has to be played in the NFL to win.”
So what separates the good quarterbacks from the great quarterbacks? From Warner’s perspective, that divide is among the select few who can make the throws others can’t when the situation is less than ideal. Under pressure. On the move. When you can’t follow through. With defenders in your face.
“To me, the best quarterbacks in this business are the ones who have the ability to throw from different positions,” Warner explained. “Because most guys in this league can throw in a perfect world. You have to be able to make those throws. But where the great ones are separated from everyone else is in their ability to make throws not everyone else can make.
“To me, that’s one of the things that separates Rodgers from so many other people. He doesn’t have to be playing in a perfect world. He can elude pressure, he has the ability to throw with pressure in his face when his feet aren’t set, he can throw when scrambling to the right or left. To me those are things not everyone can be taught, and not everyone can do.”
It’s an interesting take from someone who very recently was doing it himself.
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Aaron Rodgers may be listed as doubtful to play Sunday night at New England, but today in the locker room he seemed to give indications that he would do what he could to try and take the field.
Rodgers was upbeat after practice, and asked if he might play Sunday night, the quarterback didn’t say a word but flashed a smile and shrugged his shoulders. Coach Mike McCarthy also isn’t ruling him out for the critical contest that could put a dagger in the Packers playoff chances.
“The door is open for Aaron Rodgers to play in the game,” McCarthy said. Rodgers didn’t practice this week, but McCarthy said the he is progressing in his recovery from the head injury that knocked him out of the loss at Detroit last Sunday.
“He’s working his way through the process,” McCarthy said. “There are stages that you work through. But he’s making progress, and I talked to him today. He looks good (and) would like to play.”
Although McCarthy said the team has been preparing since Monday to have Matt Flynn make his first NFL start, the coach stopped short of naming a starter for the game against the Patriots.
McCarthy is hoping to make that decision by Saturday, after he waits to see how Rodgers checks out with further mandatory post-concussion evaluations and testing administered by Packers team doctor John Gray as well as an independent neurologist.
“Number one, he has to be cleared medically, and Dr. John Gray will have the final say on that,” McCarthy said. “And if he does make it to that point, then myself will make a decision on whether he plays or not. Right now, he’s still working through the medical part.”
Rodgers suffered his first concussion in an overtime loss at Washington on Oct. 10. He was cleared to return to practice four days later and made the start in Green Bay’s next game.
Published: December 16th, 2010 | Tags: Aaron Rodgers, David Garrard, Jason Campbell, Jon Kitna, Josh Freeman, Kerry CollinsIf you survived the loss of Aaron Rodgers for most of last week’s game – and his 2.34-point performance – you should at least know his status well before his Week 15 contest in New England.
According to the Packers official Twitter page, the decision on Rodgers’ status will be made on Saturday. That’s good news, as the game is slated for Sunday night.
If Rodgers is expected to start, obviously you put him into your lineup and don’t think twice about it. But if it’s announced that he’ll be inactive, you’ll have to resort of other options.
Luckily, there are some good ones still on the waiver wire in most NFL.com leagues.
Based on the matchups, Josh Freeman (41.5 percent), David Garrard (68.5 percent), Jon Kitna (86.3 percent), Kerry Collins (94.5 percent) and Jason Campbell (93.9 percent) are all very attractive choices.
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It looks more and more like the Packers will go into their critical Sunday night game without QB Aaron Rodgers. At least if having to practice to play is in anyway involved.
Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says that coach Mike McCarthy said that it’s very doubtful Rodgers will practice this week and that a decisioin on his status won’t be made until Saturday.
McCarthy said that Dr. John Gray said it was out of the question for Rodgers to practice on Wednesday and Thursday and that his chances for Friday are “slim to none.” He said he would not let the importance of the game affect his decision on whether to play Rodgers.
Backup Matt Flynn will get all of the practice reps in team drills this week and will go through an intense week of preparation so that he is fully prepared to play. Practice squad quarterback Graham Harrell may be signed to the 53-man roster, but a decision would not be made until Saturday.
In addition to not being able to practice, Rodgers will not be allowed to attend meetings or go through film study until cleared by the doctor. He did neither on Wednesday.
McCarthy said he had not talked to Rodgers Wednesday, but spoke with him extensively earlier this week.
Senior writer jclombardi highlights QB Rodgers & emotional game days.
Rodgers gets miffed at mental miscues: Getting on your teammates for mental mistakes is something every quarterback has done, but only some can actually do it and not risk mutiny within the ranks. On Sunday against San Francisco, Rodgers was very demonstrative in pointing out mental errors, dressing down fullback Quinn Johnson, chirping at tight end Quarless and in one instance, seemingly getting irate with wide receiver Donald Driver. Many a quarterback has blown off steam, but most have been careful to contain it. ”I think as a quarterback and as a leader, you have to find ways to get through to your teammates,” Rodgers said. “Some guys do better with a confrontation, some guys with a pat on the butt, some guys a one-on-one sit-down. I’m an emotional player, and sometimes I share my emotions on the field, sometimes I share them in public. But I think some of the mistakes we’ve been making are so correctable, it’s often most frustrating when I know those are mistakes that shouldn’t happen. And when you’re playing a tight game, you can’t have alignment mistakes.” Rodgers was speaking more of the mistakes by Quarless and Johnson. Rodgers patted Johnson on the helmet after chewing him out. Rodgers had to call a timeout because Quarless apparently wasn’t lined up right. ”Sometimes I say things,” Rodgers said. “I guess it’s frustrating when it’s a little thing and it shouldn’t be an issue. You’re probably talking about me getting on Quinn a little bit when he couldn’t line up in the right spot. To me, that goes back to preparation. To me, physical mistakes are going to happen. I’m going to throw a bad ball, guys are going to drop passes, might not be able to make a play at some point. But the mental stuff, I just have a really hard time with that. Because I just feel like the preparation should be the most important thing for these guys.” Driver said he accepts Rodgers for the kind of person he is. He admitted Rodgers is cocky, “but in a good way.” ”I’m cocky,” Driver said. “It goes hand in hand. I think I’m one of the best. He thinks he’s one of the best quarterbacks. That’s pretty good.”
Rodgers–’Sometimes I share my emotions on the field’: He’s an emotional guy with high expectations, and that’s not going to change. “I think as a quarterback and as a leader, you have to find ways to get through to your teammates. Some guys do better with a confrontation, some guys with a pat on the butt, some guys a one-on-one sit-down,” Rodgers explained at his locker after practice, as the team prepared for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions. “I’m an emotional player, and sometimes I share my emotions on the field, sometimes I share them in public. But I think some of the mistakes we’ve been making are so correctable, it’s often most frustrating when I know those are mistakes that shouldn’t happen.” The most recent example occurred in last Sunday’s 34-16 victory over the 49ers. With the Packers trying to grind out as much clock with a 31-16 lead, Rodgers was facing a first-and-10 from the San Francisco 38-yard line and had to burn a timeout when fullback Johnson lined up incorrectly. Rodgers didn’t hide his irritation, and it was clear as he came off the field that Johnson was the target. “To me, that goes back to preparation,” Rodgers said. “The way I look at it, physical mistakes are going to happen. I’m going to throw a bad ball; guys are going to drop passes, might not be able to make a play at some point. But the mental stuff, I just have a really hard time with that. Because I just feel like the preparation should be the most important thing for these guys. There’s no excuses in my opinion to (have) that many mental mistakes.” Earlier, in the first quarter, Rodgers had to burn another timeout and appeared to be peeved at Johnson and rookie tight end Andrew Quarless. After the game, Rodgers suggested that a little more preparation might have prevented the mistakes. “When you’ve playing a tight game, you can’t have alignment mistakes,” Rodgers said. “Preparation is the most important thing because the little mistakes are amplified.” The most obvious example was at Atlanta, when Quarless and Johnson were both in the same area on a first-and-goal pass from the Falcons’ 2-yard line. Johnson leaped to try to catch the pass, which appeared to be intended for Quarless, and heard about it afterward. While Quarless admitted that it is embarrassing to be chastised in front of fans, he said he believes that Rodgers does it only because he sees potential in him. Rodgers does most of his criticizing in practice and the value he places on practicing well was evident in one of the things. In his response to a question about Starks, Rodgers praised injured running back Grant, injured tight end Finley and four of his five wide receivers for their practice habits. Since Rodgers rarely if ever says something without having thought it through first, his message was undeniable.
