The Green Bay Packers opened the season on the road. Losing 23-7. Playing in Minnesota, the Viking’s home stadium is one of the most notoriously difficult venues to play in. The crowd-noise played a factor. But the Packers seemed to be missing something. Well, that something is 5x pro-bowl wide receiver Davante Adams. Adams left Green Bay this past offseason to reunite with his former college quarterback, Derek Carr, in Las Vegas playing for the Raiders. His absence was felt by the Packers’ offense very early in the game. On the first play from scrimmage, Aaron Rodgers targeted his rookie wide receiver Christian Watson on a deep ball down the right sideline. Watson had the defense beat. There wasn’t a defender within 10 yards of him, when he dropped the ball that surely would have led to a touchdown had it been caught.
Aaron Rodgers was visibly frustrated with his teammate. Rightfully so, Rodgers is a tenured member of the Green Bay Packers. Christian Watson is the highest selected receiver the Packers have drafted since Aaron Rogers became the starter in 2008. On top of this Rodgers had addressed a similar issue during training camp this offseason. Not mentioning Watson by name, during a press conference with an ESPN reporter prior to the season, Rodgers was quoted saying “The young guys, especially young receivers, we’ve got to be way more consistent… A lot of drops, a lot of bad route decisions, running the wrong route.” This was said roughly a month before the season. The parties involved had the opportunity to fix the issues at hand, and failed. Which more than justifies Rodgers’ anger. But something unacceptable happened on Aaron Rodgers’ end.
For the remainder of the game Aaron Rodgers failed to willingly give the ball to Christian Watson. He showed no trust in his teammate. The offense would have been better off if they had taken him off the field, as it seemed like they were playing with 10 players versus 11. Watson’s only other touch of the football came on a jet-sweep play, which is when the wide receiver motions to the backfield and takes the handoff on the snap. This is a designed play by the coaches and not something the Rodgers’ has control of.
While Aaron Rodgers is legitimately playing on the worst team of his career it can be argued that he has no help. But if I’m a teammate of his; One who most likely grew up a fan of the guy, seeing his attitude towards the game last sunday would devastate me. Regardless of how poorly the other 21 men on the field played. That loss is on the back of Aaron Rodgers. Personally I am a fan of Rodgers, and I hope he can turn the season around. But right now the team is in neutral, and the brakes have been cut. Aaron Rodgers needs to put himself in gear in order to save the season, otherwise the Packers are going downhill.