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Remember, McCarthy was only three weeks removed from being heavily criticized after the collapse in Seattle followed by the unexpected death of his 47-year-old brother, Joe.
At some point, McCarthy decided to hand the title of associate head coach and the play-calling duties to Clements, his trusted lieutenant for almost a decade. At the same time, he wouldn't have to deal directly with Rodgers and his pattern of changing so many of his calls at the line.
Certainly, Rodgers was keen on the idea.
Clements had been instrumental streamlining Rodgers' delivery and helping resurrect his career after a wholly unimpressive start. At the same time, their personalities just clicked.
Alas, it just didn't work. Rodgers would come to the sidelines and there would be at least four coaches with playsheets and two backup quarterbacks hovering about.
By the time McCarthy stripped Clements, the Packers were last on first down, 26th on third down, 23rd in passing and awful in short yardage.
At least 50% of the blame rests with Rodgers. Given his ability and experience, he has played well below his standards. Some say Clements was structurally sound as an offensive tactician, but that's hard to judge because with McCarthy in the wings somewhere Rodgers saw the chance to impose his vision on the offense.
"Aaron changes so many plays at the line that, honestly, to us, it doesn't matter who's calling the plays," guard T.J. Lang said after the Dallas game.
At the same time, Clements-Rodgers had been an assistant-player relationship for nine years. Without having the head coach's power or the skill to simulate it, Clements and the Packers kept spinning out of control as never before in the McCarthy administration with Rodgers at the helm.
Clements lasted four games in 2005 as the play-caller in Buffalo before coach Mike Mularkey took over. He had two shots, he wasn't up to the task and things didn't end nicely.
There's little doubt that Rodgers was disappointed if not angry when McCarthy informed him of Clements' demotion. To make the break more dramatic, McCarthy banished Clements to the coaches' booth in the press box even though he had been Rodgers' sideline adviser for years.
Rodgers surely didn't appreciate that, either, but it's the price that needed to be paid when McCarthy at last came to his senses and returned to what he does best in an attempt to save the season.
Rodgers' news conference last Sunday was interesting, to say the least.
He opened by saying, "I don't think it's about the play-calling. It's about the execution."
He closed by saying he couldn't understand what McCarthy was telling him through the wire in his helmet because of what he called "that Pittsburgh dialect."
"I had no idea what he was saying," Rodgers said in reference to McCarthy's play call on a touchdown pass to James Starks. "About the fourth time, thankfully, Alex was right next to him and let me know what it was (by signaling)."
That probably won't be the last time Rodgers seeks to defend Clements' performance.
It also was at least the third or fourth time in my memory that the quarterback has poked fun if not mocked McCarthy's speech. It was uncalled for, certainly, as were the two or three times over the years that sideline cameras caught Rodgers gesturing and seemingly livid regarding game-management decisions by McCarthy.
One could say Rodgers was trying to show the coach up.
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Van Pelt added that the entire staff had given consideration to how the relationship between Rodgers and Clements might affect the quarterback's performance after the play-calling.
Rodgers said that he still was at liberty to maneuver the offense into a better play at the line. He also said there were more plays against Dallas with fewer available checks.
In some ways, McCarthy now can look at Rodgers, point to the first 12 games and remind him the way things were done from 2006-'14 were pretty good and that a certain quarterback won two most valuable player awards.
Employer-employee relationships often prosper when the person in charge exerts authority every now and again.
If Rodgers is smart, he will embrace the return of McCarthy, acknowledge the Lombardi Trophy and their other joint accomplishments and value what a coach with tremendous expertise on offense can mean for him and the team.
The quarterback and the coach don't need to be buddies. In the building, they do need to get along, respect each other's football knowledge and pull together for the common good.
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