Aaron Rodgers finally discusses poor play on the football field. The Green Bay Packers just took the field against the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football at Lambeau Field. Once again though, the Packers just looked lost both offensively and defensively as they lost 27-17. The playoff expectations for this team in the offseason are now seemingly gone at this point in the year. However, Rodgers has recently opened up about some of the poor play that he’s been putting out on the field.
The first question that the media peppered him with was in regard to the boos. Yes, fans were booing Aaron Rodgers. The back-to-back MVP didn’t have much of a strong answer to this question. He said, “Interesting. That’s the best I can give you.” Admittedly, he didn’t play the best, but it’s hard to believe that these fans are booing him considering all that he’s done for the franchise over the last decade and a half. Against the Titans Rodgers completed 24 out of his 39 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It wasn’t even a bad day statistically, but the fans wanted more as they lost their sixth out of their last seven games.
Injury Concerns?
Questions kept coming his way after the game, including concerns over his injured thumb that’s been ailing him since Week 5. Rodgers said, “I couldn’t tell you, point to one thing. I’m not going to make excuses about my thumb, it’s been the same since New York. I don’t know. I gotta go back and look at it. It felt like fundamentally I was in a good spot. I just didn’t have the same type of consistent grip and ball coming out the same way. I threw a lot of kinda wobblers tonight. There was some wind. I just missed a few throws I shoulda had.”
Green Bay didn’t score a single point over their last four possessions of a game that was within striking distance. Two of those drives were three-and-outs. The third was a turnover on downs after a missed pass to Allen Lazard and then the final drive was a turnover on downs following a stuffed Aaron Jones. On two of the three-and-outs, Rodgers missed a key throw that he normally would have completed.
Aaron Rodgers And Packers Have More Problems
Now, the boos can’t just fall upon Rodgers’ shoulders. It’s hard to imagine many other quarterbacks facing this much criticism with weapons that he has currently. Now that Davante Adams is gone, Rodgers is reliant upon Romeo Doubs, Christian Watson, Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard. Two of them are rookie wideouts, neither were drafted in the first-round. On the other hand, the defense isn’t performing well at all. They allowed multiple long-lasting drives to the Titans which likely further pushed the Packers out of a rhythm. That lack of rhythm could be a potential problem for them also, as the defense is usually being torched for long lasting touchdown drives.
Overall, it’s a lot to clean up for the Packers and there really isn’t any good news to pull out of this recent defeat. The playoffs aren’t completely out of reach, but they are unbelievably close at this point in the year to being eliminated.