The number of days left until the NFL Draft is down to single digits, which is good because the offseason noise coming out of Green Bay was starting to sound like a soap opera.
“It’s been a good offseason,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “A little too long, though.”
Rodgers was at the team’s voluntary workout last week, addressing the involuntary dragging through the mud that he was subject to in a recently published report.
The once-universally admired 35-year-old veteran was characterized in a long feature story as a self-interested whiner, a passive-aggressive mope whose act was wearing thin on his lesser-paid colleagues.
How Rodgers tumbled from the hero pedestal has much to do with the hive mind mentality, the tendency to kick those who are down, and how “down” can translate to a matter of wins and losses.
Maybe the pot shots will narrow once the draft begins and there’s something new to talk about. Maybe the ankle-biters in the gallery will back off now that Rodgers is no longer the league’s highest-paid quarterback.
With the Packers having 10 picks in the draft, including overall Nos. 12, 30 and 44, and having signed a couple of free agent edge rushers, in addition to their star QB being fully healed, one might think that the buzz along Lombardi Avenue would be more positive.
Yet, there was Rodgers — two-time MVP, nine-time Pro Bowler — fielding questions about his temperament, about whether he got former coach Mike McCarthy fired and whether he’ll deign to listen to the instructions of new coach Matt LaFleur.
Rodgers endured an underwhelming 2018 season, with his individual stats falling as the Packers fizzled their way to 6-9-1.
The nature of his opening-day injuries sustained was revealed — a sprained knee and a fracture along the tibia — and suddenly 16 starts looked like a pretty impressive number. His having started every game at less than 100 percent puts to rest any question of his leadership.
In further defense of what Rodgers has brought to the table, as if one even needs to be made, there is this fun fact: In Packer history there’s never been a more proficient Bear-killer.
Rodgers has a 16-5 career record against Chicago, a .762 winning percentage. Brett Favre, a notorious thorn in the Bears’ side, was 22-10 (.688). Bart Starr, who won nine straight playoff games and as many Super Bowls as Favre and Rodgers combined, went 14-9 against Chicago (.609).
In recent years, stats like those were set-ups to punch lines, due to Chicago’s being the NFC Central piñata. It’s a different story now, as it was a different story in last year’s opener, when Rodgers led an amazing comeback against a very good defense.
Rodgers didn’t get McCarthy fired. If anyone did, it was Larry Fitzgerald and Josh Rosen. Those two hooked up on a long bomb that helped Arizona beat the two-touchdown favorite Packers. After that Week 13 fiasco, it was all she wrote for McCarthy, who ranks No. 27 among NFL coaches in career victories.
The single, solitary Super Bowl win for which McCarthy was regularly castigated — for frittering away the talents of a Hall of Fame quarterback — is one more than Don Shula won with Dan Marino. Shula won a couple of Super Bowls before Marino got there, when the Dolphins had a defense. Maybe that had something to do with it.
Rodgers is wise enough to understand that the less said about the ’18 season, the better, and that having a new coaching staff won’t be an excuse for another losing season.
“There’s no grace period here,” he said. “We’ve got a veteran quarterback, veteran offensive linemen and we’ve signed some important free agents. There’s an expectation, living and playing here, that you’re going to compete for championships, and I think we all expect to do that.”
The Packers may actually sneak up on some folks this time around, which is unusual, but promising. Four months into 2019, there’s never been a better time to start looking at this year.