A man walks into a press conference and a therapy session breaks out.
It may not have been quite that dramatic, but for a guy who played an amazing game, Aaron Rodgers did some impassioned soul-baring at the podium last week.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback ran for two touchdowns and a two-point conversion and threw for two more scores, the last of which beat the New York Jets in overtime. Their first road win of the season came after trailing by 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Rodgers was asked about the importance of a game with no playoff significance, and why he played.
Here’s a helpful reminder: he’s signed to a $134 million contract — $100 million of which is guaranteed — to participate in 16 football games in each of the next four years. That’s more than a million and a half per game. Many consider that alone to be a pretty good reason to go to work.
Some had suggested that with the upcoming overhaul awaiting the Packers in the offseason, it made better sense to bench Rodgers for the last two games in order to get a closer look at backup QB DeShone Kizer and protect their biggest investment from injury.
Rodgers was having none of it. Of all the backlash that came his way after former coach Mike McCarthy’s firing, suggestions from former Packers that Rodgers isn’t a great team player were the most hurtful. He took the opportunity to reach out and clear up any misunderstandings of where he stands.
“What kind of leader would I be if I just went, ‘Well, I could probably play, but I’m going to shut it down till next year?’” he said. “That’s not the type of competitor I am. I have a lot of pride and I love competing.
“I like to put my body on the line for my teammates, and let them know I want to be out there, and that their presence on the field matters as well. I don’t want to (not play and) look back in 20 years and wonder if something special might have happened if I played.”
Rodgers also threw a vote of confidence to interim coach Joe Philbin, who would like to return next year. Since McCarthy’s dismissal there has been speculation over who the full-time replacement will be.
Asked if he’d be interested, Brett Favre said he doesn’t think he’s ready for the job yet, but he offered up a few names who he thought would be good fits — Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson.
A win over Detroit would make it three out of four on Philbin’s watch. When he makes his pitch for the gig full-time, bringing a 3-1 record to the table won’t hurt his case.
The Packers should hope to be more efficient this Sunday than they were in Week 5 at Ford Field, when they out-gained the Lions 521-264 and still got drummed. That was also the game where kicker Mason Crosby went wide left, wide right and off both uprights. His five missed kicks represented a potential 13 points in the 31-23 defeat.
The Lions, who led 24-0 at halftime, at that time had wide receiver Golden Tate, who was since traded to Philadelphia. The Packers, meanwhile, were without wide receiver Jake Kumerow, who caught a 49-yard touchdown pass in the win over the Jets.
Rodgers has been high on Kumerow since the preseason. He gets open, hangs onto the ball and seems to have already earned Rodgers’ trust, something that can’t be applied across the board in the wide receiver stable.
The last waltz of 2018 pits the Packers against a familiar, beatable opponent, where a victory will give them their first two-game winning streak of the season.
“We’re not done yet,” Philbin said. “We have one game left.”
Then they’re done. Beating the Lions won’t erase the year of frustrations, but it might make it a little less depressing.