We’ve already gone over what a great quarterback
I think Aaron Rodgers is, but there is one facet of his on-field demeanor that
legitimately bothers me. Aaron has been outspoken about the fact that he thinks
mental errors on the field are unacceptable. He has stated that since mental
errors can be eliminated by simply spending more time preparing (knowing the
playbook, knowing your assignment, familiarity with the game plan, getting your
adjustments right), there is no excuse for them. In other words, if you’re
making mental errors on the field, you’re not working hard enough off the
field, and therefore you do not deserve to be on the field.
He
has also taken a ‘money where your mouth is’ approach on this, since he himself
prepares tirelessly. The long hours he puts in (according to teammates,
coaches, and himself) are a reflection of his commitment to excellence in the
pursuit of perfection. As a result, he expects nothing less from his teammates.
If you don’t know the game plan inside and out, then you better get back to the
film room and figure it out before game time.
I’m
perfectly fine with all of that. In fact I think that it’s the only proper
approach for a quarterback to take, as he needs to be the leader of this team
both on the field and off. The problem I have is that Rodgers has frequently
shown his anger with teammates during a game following a mental error on their
part. Whether it’s an animated hand gesture, a lecture before they get back to
the huddle, or even just a glare, he has made it known when he thinks a
teammate has made an avoidable error. I see absolutely no benefit in showing up
your teammates like that. I’d like to think that the player who just ran the
wrong route or missed a blocking assignment or cut inside instead of out knows
they made a mistake before they’re told. Players put their careers and
livelihoods at risk when they make mental errors on the field, and they don’t
need to be reminded of that by their teammate. There’s a reason the Packers
have, like, a million coaches on the sidelines, and it’s their job to handle
those situations.
The
Packers (because of their draft and develop philosophy) consistently have one
of the NFL’s youngest rosters. Many of these guys are playing with little to no
experience, and are called upon to carry out important assignments. These
players need all the confidence they can get, and a scolding in front of
millions of people from your quarterback is not likely to help that cause. Aaron
is not perfect himself, and would likely not react well to John Kuhn throwing
his hands up in anger after an off target pass.
Don’t
get me wrong, some of these players need some reminders every now and then to
get their head in the game. Jermichael Finley, I’m looking at you. The fact is,
on the field, out in the open, and in demonstrative fashion is not the way to
go about reminding them. If Rodgers really feels the need to get after one of
his teammates, he should do it in the huddle, away from the eyes and ears of
the public. None of us would appreciate being scolded in front of our
coworkers, let alone in front of our friends, families, and millions of
strangers as well. These men are all adults, and deserve to be treated as such.
One
thing I used to love about Favre is that when one of his receivers made a
mistake (dropped pass, wrong route, etc.), you just knew he was coming right
back to them for a chance at redemption. It got to the point where I wondered
why opposing defenses didn’t double cover the guy who just messed up. It was
that predictable. Now Rodgers doesn’t necessarily hate on receivers for drops
(physical as opposed to mental errors), but I’d sure like to see him have his
teammates back after a mistake.
Believe
me, I’m not trying to say that Rodgers is a bad teammate by a long shot. I
think he’s a great teammate and I think he treats his coworkers with respect. I
remember punter Tim Masthay saying that Rodgers had gone out of his way to
introduce himself and make Tim feel welcome. Long snapper Brett Goode has said
the same, and has been known to sing karaoke with Rodgers on their free time.
If the MVP of the league is going out of his way to befriend the team’s punter
and long snapper, I’d say he's committed to solidarity in the locker room. It’s
not a lack of respect, but rather frustration in the face of lofty goals that
causes Rodgers to occasionally show up his teammates.
I
don’t want Rodgers to stop being a perfectionist. I don’t want him to stop
expecting the same commitment from his teammates. I don’t even want him to stop
calling out players if he thinks that’s what he needs to do as the leader of
this team. All I want is for him to stop doing it in public. Keep internal
discussions just that, internal. The whole world doesn’t need to know that the
play didn’t work because Jordy ran the wrong route. Just get back to the
huddle, call the next play and maintain a unified front.
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ReplyDeleteI think it's a positive that this is the worst thing you could say about him. I don't particularly like the fact that he does that on the field, but with only 40 seconds between plays, it would be difficult to address problems after any given play especially since they run the hurry up fairly often. They keep the cameras on players when they are on the sidelines as well, so if you need to make the adjustment during the game, something needs to be said "in public", there's no avoiding it when they are on the field.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah dude, we're splitting hairs at this point with complaints. It's definitely a good situation. You make a good point about the urgency on the field between plays, that's something that most fans (myself included) just can't get a feel for. Those guys make everything look so easy, you sometimes forget the stress they're under. I do think that people make too much out of the 'hurry up' offense. We really don't run it that much outside of the preseason. We ran it a whole bunch with some success in the preseason last year, but there could be a million reasons for that. Throw teams off our real plan, practicing something the coaches thought we weren't sharp enough with, simulating high pressure situations in otherwise meaningless games, seeing how the rookies would react under duress, etc.
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