Aaron Rodgers might be as complex as any player in the NFL, which is why it came off a bit ironic Sunday when the Packers quarterback called for the struggling Green Bay offense to be “simpler.”
Rodgers stressed it a dozen times during his postgame press conference after losing 27-10 to the New York Jets, the Packers scoring a mere 10 points on 13 offensive drives.
“Simpler. Simpler. Simplify some things,” Rodgers said when asked what the offense needs to do to get back in a rhythm, as shared by the team. “I don’t want to get too specific. I’m not attacking anything, but based on how we’ve played the last two weeks, I think it’s going to be in our best interest to simplify things for everybody. For the line, for the backs, for the receivers. Especially with (Randall Cobb’s) injury. Simplify some things, and maybe that will help us get back on track.”
The 3-3 Packers will have to get back on track in a hurry after now having dropped back-to-back games to the New York Giants and Jets, both results which were a bit of a surprise. Rodgers completed 26 of his 41 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown against the Jets.
“Very inconsistent, and that’s why I think we need to simplify things,” he said. “On the couple of drives we moved the ball, it was very simple things. Very simple plays, no motion. We need to look at everything, and the guys we got, and what we can accomplish with them. Let’s be smart about moving forward. Nobody works harder than Matt (LaFleur) on the plan each week and nobody comes with better ideas than him and his staff, but if it’s not working, it’s not because those guys aren’t grinding. It’s because we’re not executing. And if we think we have the right players, then we need to simplify things. If we don’t, that’s a whole other conversation.”
Rodgers added: “It’s always been like this. It’s always been when we struggle, we’re doing too much. … There are times when we need to reign it in a little bit, let’s simplify some things. Make sure our guys are playing with more confidence. That (being said), the standard is the standard. The plays we had in are easily understood and excusable. So, this is not an attack on the staff at all. Because they put in a plan that can win football games. But the execution, when it looks like that, it’s not good enough. So, we do probably have to reign it in a little bit.”
It’s worth noting perhaps one specific area of improvement would be getting Green Bay’s running backs more involved. The Packers rushed the ball for a mere three yards per carry against the Jets with Aaron Jones touching it just 12 times for 44 yards and A.J. Dillon compiling 14 touches for 52 yards.
Rodgers and the Packers return to action in Week 7 with another favorable opportunity against the Washington Commanders.
