December 19, 2018 at 12:55 p.m.
Shoutouts & Callouts
With playoff hopes dashed, should Packers sit Rodgers?
Shoutouts & Callouts
I did not really give that question much thought at first. My knee-jerk reaction is this is football. If you have nothing else left, you still play for pride. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I can hear former N.Y. Jets and Kansas City head coach Herm Edwards screaming, "Hello! You play to win the game!"
Then one of our Pigskin Pick'em participants emailed me to say he is "really hoping the Packers do the right thing and sit Rodgers for the last two games."
That got me thinking, is shutting down Rodgers with the Packers out of contention really the craziest of ideas?
There's a precedent for this move. Last year, with the Packers out of playoff contention in the final two weeks of the season, the team put Rodgers on injured reserve and turned the reins back over to Brett Hundley.
Of course, last year, Rodgers was coming back -probably too soon - from a collarbone injury as the Packers desperately tried to save their playoff chances. With those hopes gone, it made more sense to allow Rodgers to heal and regroup for next season.
Rodgers isn't dealing with anything like that this year, but you can certainly make an argument that Rodgers has not been his usual MVP self this year. He's been on the injury report all year after injuring his knee in a Week 1 win over the Bears. Though he hasn't missed a game, and his health and mobility have gradually improved all season long, Rodgers' completion percentage (61.8, 28th in NFL), yards per attempt (7.40, 19th) and quarterback rating (97.2, 14th) would seem to indicate something is still not quite right. Then there's the matter of the two wide open receivers he missed for what would have been sure touchdowns in Sunday's loss at Chicago.
What's more, Rodgers admitted his groin tightened on him a bit late in the first half of Sunday's game.
To be sure, the Packers' offensive woes do not rest on Rodgers' health or performance alone. There have been a myriad of other issues that have kept this year's squad from clicking like the offensive juggernaut it used to be. The offensive line has been banged up much of the year and the running game has been present only in fits and starts.
Making matters worse, aside from Davante Adams, Rodgers and his young receiving corp do not appear to be on the same page.
For his part, Rodgers, who had an NFL-record 402-passes without an interception streak snapped in the Bears' loss, says he wants to be out there this Sunday at the New York Jets and in next Sunday's season finale vs. Detroit.
"Nobody's talked to me about (not playing). I want to play, though, so I'm expecting to start and play," Rodgers said. "I'd like to be out there and lead us the last two weeks."
If the objective is to win the final two games, it goes without saying that the Packers stand a better chance with Rodgers than DeShone Kizer.
Interim head coach Joe Philbin, who's auditioning for the job on a full-time basis, agreed with that philosophy Monday.
""We're the Green Bay Packers, we're a football team and we're in the business of winning football games, and we want all our players who are healthy to contribute to the overall success of the team. Period," Philbin told reporters.
Some would argue that putting Rodgers on the shelf would be officially waving the white flag on a disappointing 2018 season. I'd argue that flag went up when the Packers traded Ty Montgomery and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix following a loss to the L.A. Rams. If not then, it certainly went up when the Packers fired coach Mike McCarthy following a loss to Arizona earlier this month.
Sure, a weak NFC helped keep the Packers' playoff hopes alive until this past weekend, but it was clear well before then that the team's 2018 season was in dire straits.
Rodgers, 35, isn't getting any younger. And he still has four years remaining on the $140 million contract extension he signed in the summer. So, if shutting Rodgers down a couple of weeks early will make a difference in him being 100 percent by the time training camp rolls around next July, I can't say I'm totally against the idea.
As he showed during his record interception-less streak, Rodgers is not one prone to take chances. On the field, he'd rather throw the ball away and live to fight another down or series. Perhaps the same logic applies here.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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