He's got so much physical ability that you would think they could find a way to work him into the offense, but Hackett struggles to use the best players he has so I'm not holding my breath.
Probably too late in his career to make any sort of change like this but he looks and plays like a hard hitting strong safety.
I got the feeling on Thursday that Rodgers was determined to complete a pass to every eligible player as soon as possible. Like he was making a point of it.
Rodgers seemed a bit annoyed talking about how all three defenses we've faced have sold out to take away Garrett Wilson - had a funny line in the post game press conference about all the cover 2 after Mel Kiper said it should be banned: The part I'm talking about starts at 4:48 I think he's trying to stop the complete sellout on Garrett, by showing he has targets everywhere. I saw a stat that 30 of 34 of Garrett's routes run against the Pats, the corner covering him had safety help.
It's partially his fault, I mean before week 1 he basically said they would be feeding Breece and Garrett and lo and behold the only 2 offensive players actually featured were Wilson and Hall. They spread it around a bit more in week 2 and found much better results, albeit against a worse team. He spread it around the entire offense against a bad team and it was total domination. Maybe forcing the ball to Garrett wasn't a great idea.
I think the way preseason has changed has influenced how week 1 goes for many teams, and I do believe it's the biggest factor in why that game went as it did. I agree the focus issue was not ideal, but given our skill position players overall, I'm happy if the defense sells out every play to double Garrett, as it should leave predictable open opportunities elsewhere, and I think Garrett still finds a way to get his. Personally, my bigger concern is that I think Rodgers is too easily swayed by how his receivers feel. Lazard and him had a thing about Lazard getting his first TD as a Jet, and Aaron made sure that happened Breece told him, if there's a LB on me, throw me a go ball, and he does (for a touchdown) After Garrett got stopped on the goal line, he told Aaron to give him the ball again (again, for a TD) These things all worked now, but he acknowledged at least the Garrett TD as a predetermined decision - called it the QB cardinal sin. Also mentioned having to find a way to make it happen since it was well covered - I don't want our skill position players influencing Rodgers into forcing bad plays for their egos later in the season. Those won't always be touchdowns.
Well I mean that is kind of a basic leadership thing, too, he is empowering his playmakers to tell him when to put them in best position to succeed, I'm sure it creates problems elsewhere but it's needed at least at some level for him to be effective. He is loyal to a fault as you could see by the way he kept getting Cobb jobs after he should have retired. I think maybe he lets personal relationships take too much of a role in his workplace and it affects his on-field decision making.
The Lazard and Hall plays were good QBing. The Lazard TD was a screen pass to the left with the corner playing off coverage. If I recall correctly it was 1st down too, so if it didn't work he still had other opportunities to get a TD. The Breece play was Breece highlighting a mismatch for Rodgers, which a receiver should absolutely do, and the QB exploiting that mismatch. The Wilson one was the one that was highly problematic. He was covered by a very good corner who had good position. If that pass was just a little bit off, it could have easily been a pick 6. That's a pass where Rodgers should have gone elsewhere. It worked out, but its still a pass that's too risky to attempt. That being said, I can understand his trying to keep Wilson (who's immensely talented) happy and involved, especially as his opportunities have been limited because of all the double coverage he's been seeing. Rodgers even acknowledged in the post-game press conference that he really shouldn't have done that. Hopefully won't do it again.
If there’s one guy who’s not going to be swayed, it’s Aaron LOL. If he trusts the look just as much as the players do, he will let them make a play. He’s just as good out of operating off script then on. Especially early in the season, you let the players get a feel for what they see, it’s like they are seeing the game beyond the game…now they are thinking on the level of Rodgers because they see the mismatch as much as Aaron does and that’s a good thing to see.
IDK if its just the jets, but we seem to put strategic information our there during press conferences etc. Not wise IMO. And its usually not used as a feint.
