Especially in defeat, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers likes to use press conferences with the media as an opportunity to speak to his team and convey specific messages through a different medium, knowing the media will write the stories and help him deliver those messages to teammates.
His message following Sunday’s 38-10 defeat in Tampa Bay couldn’t have been more clear.
The Packers, who soared into the bye week at 4-0, needed the wake-up call that only a humbling loss like Sunday’s can provide.
“Look, you don’t ever want to lose like this,” Rodgers said. “I felt like we needed a little bit of a wake-up call at some point this season because things have been so good and there’s been so much talk, maybe, outside the building about the ease with which we’re moving the ball on offense and scoring. I think we needed kind of a kick in the ass a little bit.”
Rodgers said the Packers might have been “feeling ourselves” too much after winning four games by 51 points to start the season.
“I think this will be, unfortunately, but fortunately, something we can really grow from,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said the offense felt “lethargic” and he didn’t like the urgency getting in and out of the huddle. Even after a 10-0 start, Rodgers didn’t like the feel or efficiency of the offense. And after falling behind 14-10 thanks to two turnovers, the Packers couldn’t get anything going in terms of a counter punch.
On more than one occasion, Rodgers answered a question by pointing to the team’s practice performance during the week.
“We need to take a good look at our practice habits. We talk about practice preparation equals game reality. That’s something Matt has talked about since the first day he got here,” Rodgers said. “I don’t think our week of practice was that great. I don’t think we practiced our best this week and obviously didn’t play our best tonight.”
Coach Matt LaFleur agreed, saying the last week of practice wasn’t up to his team’s standards: “You practice like crap, and then you go out and play like crap.”
Rodgers said he believes the “stinker” on Sunday was an “anomaly” more than the start of a trend, but that it’ll be important to understand the “whys” of the team’s performance.
Growth will start with a critical look inward and a refocusing during practice before heading to Houston for another road game this Sunday.
“We need a better week of practice next week,” Rodgers said. “We need to get healthy and have a better week of preparation.”
Consider the message delivered.
“We’ll bounce back from this, I have no doubts about that, and we’ll be ready for next week,” Rodgers said.
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