Rodgers using practices to work on high-risk, high-reward plays
Greg A. Bedard
Aug. 20, 2010
Green Bay As hard as it may be to believe, Aaron Rodgers can get better.
No, really. He can.
And the Green Bay Packers quarterback knows it.
Coming off a Pro Bowl season in which he threw 30 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions and was the league's most efficient quarterback by far on third downs, sure, we're not talking about some huge leap that needs to be made.
Actually, Rodgers would prefer you don't talk about it.
Up to this point, he has answered questions like, "Where are you trying to improve?" with a curt, "I'd rather keep that to myself." Might as well ask about his personal life. You'll get the same answer.
But tinkering is being done. You have to look closely, but whether it's at practice or in games like the exhibition matchup Saturday night against the Seattle Seahawks, A-Rod 3.0 is being tuned up. Release date: Sept. 12.
The most noticeable upgrade is in Rodgers' aggressiveness through the air.
It's not going deep down the field more often - actually, there has been a noticeable drop in deep passes from last year's training camp - it's where he's throwing the ball and how.
One of Rodgers' most obvious attributes has been his aversion to throwing into traffic. In his first two years as a starter, Rodgers has seemed obsessed with avoiding interceptions, perhaps from watching predecessor Brett Favre throw it all over the lot.
"If he saw a defender around, you weren't getting the ball," tight end Jermichael Finley said. "That's the way it was."
But it hasn't been like that in this camp. Rodgers almost seems to be forcing himself to fit balls into the tightest of windows. Forget one defender in the area. There have been times when two or three have been converging and he's taken a quick rock step and thrown with gusto. And a good majority of the time he's connected.
"A lot of times I use those practice reps to try to fit balls in places where I normally would maybe stay away from," Rodgers said. "I don't think it's often a conscious effort, but I always challenge myself to be great with my eyes, to look people off almost every throw in practice, to throw the ball that normally I might think twice about or might restrain from if it's a tough window like that in the game in a tight situation."
Think John Elway, Dan Marino and, yes, Favre. You know the throw. They often come when the team needs a play to be made. But they can also go bust. High risk, high reward.
"A-Rod is starting to be a risk taker," Finley said, "I'll put it like that."
These are the kinds of throws that coach Mike McCarthy likes to call "winning throws."
"Your prime-time players win big games because they make those one or two plays," McCarthy said last season.
Rodgers started to make them in the crucial win over the Dallas Cowboys last season, and he continued to make them down the stretch. Now he's training himself to do it for an entire season.
This is the time to experiment. Legendary coach Sid Gilman used to implore his quarterbacks to take risks before the season. Not only to test the outer reaches of their own abilities, but also to understand what the receivers could do.
"I think with the way my arm is feeling and my body is feeling and the kind of guys we've got, I have the ability to make throws in tight windows trusting that if you put it in a tight spot to Jermichael and Jordy (Nelson) and James (Jones) and Greg (Jennings) and Donald (Driver), a majority of the time they're going to come up with it," Rodgers said.
The Packers don't want Rodgers to just throw the ball up for grabs. But they would like to see him strike a nice balance between going the safe route and gambling a little bit more. In the NFL, and with the defenses the Packers will face this season, Rodgers isn't going to get a "clean picture" - an area devoid of danger - for every pass.
"What I told him is you want to be disciplined in what you're doing, but you want to be opportunistic," quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said. "So if there's a chance for a big play, be aggressive, be opportunistic but make sure the odds are in our favor. Otherwise, just go through your progression, take what's open and wait until you have the chance to make a play."
It's also evident Rodgers intends to make a play sooner. He held the ball too long on occasion during the first week of camp, but that's a distant memory. Getting rid of it sooner and staying more in the rhythm of his teammates is certain to help cut down on the league-leading 50 sacks the Packers gave up last season.
But for Rodgers, it's always going to come down to what he does with his right arm. And A-Rod 3.0 is almost ready to launch.
"Sometimes it's good to be a little lucky out there, but at the same time I have the confidence to make those throws," he said. "Not that I'm going to do it all the time, because first and foremost I'm going to take care of the football. But I do feel like I have the ability to make those throws."