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Green
Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws during the
first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota
Vikings on Monday in
Green Bay
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GREEN BAY - Aaron Rodgers isn't
willing to waste any of his time imagining what this week would have
been like if he hadn't played well in his debut as the Packers'
starting quarterback.
Fortunately, he doesn't have to.
Rodgers lived up to even the most
optimistic of expectations in Green Bay's 24-19 victory over
Minnesota on Monday night, sparing him the harsh criticism that
certainly would have come his way had he struggled in his first
major step out of Brett Favre's shadow.
"I don't like thinking
negatively or hypothetically in that situation," Rodgers said
Wednesday. "But it was definitely important for us to get a
win. I don't think 'must-win,' first game of the year, doesn't
really apply. But it was important for us to play well, and we did
for the most part."
Packers coach Mike McCarthy — who
watched Rodgers complete 18 of 22 passes for 178 yards and a
touchdown a little more than a month after deciding that Favre
wasn't in the right mindset to play for the Packers any more —
also didn't see any need to entertain the what-ifs of a potentially
poor performance.
"I haven't thought about
that," McCarthy said. "You can have that one on your own.
Hypothetical, right?"
With such hypotheticals and Week 1
hype out of the way, Rodgers now can get down to the daily business
of being an NFL starting quarterback. Up next is his first road
start, at Detroit on Sunday.
What will he do for an encore?
"Just try to be
consistent," Rodgers said. "I think the best quarterbacks
in the league prove it by their consistency week-in and week-out. I
think it's a week-to-week deal. You have to be consistent with your
preparation, consistent with your practice habits. When you get on
the field, you've got to make plays every week, and the best
quarterbacks in the league — quarterbacks that I want to put
myself in the same sentence with — they do that."
OK, so "consistent" wasn't
always the first word that came to mind during the Favre era. But
Rodgers isn't out of the riverboat gambler mold, and the Packers
don't want him to try to be.
With Rodgers under center, Packers
fans aren't likely to see anything like the heave-ho toward the end
zone that went for a touchdown in Favre's debut for the New York
Jets on Sunday.
"He needs to run the game plan
and manage the game — that's his job description," McCarthy
said of Rodgers. "He's the key communicator on the offense. He
needs to make sure everything is precise in that area and make the
proper checks in the run and protection, make the proper decisions
in the passing game, throw with accuracy, and most importantly, take
care of the football. That will never change for him."
Rodgers wasn't flashy Monday, but he
was accurate, fairly mistake-free and efficient, throwing only four
incomplete passes all night. He also showed his underrated mobility,
something opposing defenses didn't necessarily have to account for
against Favre.
"I think it's another dimension
to our offense which can help us out," Rodgers said. "The
line, I think, appreciates it. If things break down, and a couple
times they did, I feel like I can make plays outside the
pocket."
But Rodgers knows the Packers want
him to scramble to throw first, running only as a last resort.
"I'd like to throw it
first," Rodgers said. "Running is just a second option. I
think you're very dangerous when you get outside the pocket with
your eyes still downfield, because you have a run-pass option. But
in the game, I got outside the pocket, and I was able to make some
plays with my feet, and I feel like that's something I want to do
continually throughout the season."
Wide receiver Greg Jennings said
Rodgers' scrambling will lead to more big plays.
"It opens things up a lot,"
Jennings said. "Now, defenses are going to have to react to
that, knowing that he can run the ball and he can scramble outside
the pocket any time. It's definitely going to give us opportunities
to get open."
Rodgers received several supportive
text messages from friends after the game — although many of them
playfully mocked him for barely making it over the railing on his
"Lambeau Leap" after scoring on a sneak in the fourth
quarter.
"I've got friends all over the
place who were texting me and checking in, saying nice things,"
Rodgers said. "Jokes about the Lambeau Leap, or lack of the
leap. But it was real positive. But it's one game. Put it in the
belt, watch the film, move on. Now we're all about Detroit."
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