[img_l]http://media.jsonline.com/images/nickel_col.jpg[/img_l]Lori Nickel
Rodgers learning he can't do it solo
Posted: Sept. 23, 2009
Green Bay The problem with the Packer offensive line not protecting quarterback Aaron Rodgers is much deeper than the obvious risk of letting the 25-year-old get pounded all day for the second straight week.
The problem is that the ever-conscientious Rodgers sat hunched over at his locker in solitude late Sunday afternoon, looking worse for wear after he took a physical, and undoubtedly mental, beating from the Cincinnati Bengals.
And the concern extends beyond Rodgers' aches, his offensive line's protection breakdowns and receivers' apparent lapses in focus.
The underlying problem is that Rodgers has been, is now, and perhaps always will be trying to prove that he is worthy to be Green Bay's next quarterback.
So even as the world is collapsing around him, he'll lay everything on the line and perhaps do more than he should. Or hold back more than he should.
It's why he ran for his life at Lambeau Field on Sunday, churning up 43 terrified yards, when he saw the pressure coming. It's how he managed to cling to the ball with his massive hands even when he didn't see it coming.
That Rodgers somehow didn't cough up a fumble despite being sacked an unfathomable six times by the Bengals, or once out of every 10 plays on offense, is an example of how focused Rodgers is at living up to his own expectations.
He's on another mission to prove himself, just as he was in high school, when he was overlooked during recruiting. Then at college, proving he was more than a junior-college transfer. Then on that long and drawn out draft day. And again now as a second-year starter after a disappointing 6-10 season in 2008.
A mission to prove he belongs, a mission to prove he can will a team to win. So, he gripped and he ran.
But that mission also meant when Rodgers wasn't being pursued, he sometimes just held the ball a second too long. And maybe that's not even right - a whole second, it might have been less.
It's like taking a photograph of something in action when you have to anticipate, at just the right moment, when to snap that picture to capture the moment. A little too soon or a little too late and the whole photo looks off.
That's how Rodgers looked against the Bengals - his timing was off. He didn't throw it away when no play was there; he didn't always hit the open man right away; he couldn't bail himself out. He held and looked and held and looked.
There's a very valid reason for Rodgers holding on to the ball too long: it is his only way of control in a game unraveling around him. By holding on, he won't give it away.
That's his other mission. For better or worse, Rodgers is a perfectionist and has been since he arrived from California, doing everything by the book - the footwork, the progression reads, the tight spirals and the accurate deep balls.
However, remember when Rodgers first got here, he sat behind Brett Favre and watched No. 4 lead and win, but Rodgers also had a front-row seat to all the interceptions.
Favre is the NFL's all-time leader in interceptions, and the one against the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 20, 2008, was particularly critical. And perhaps that interception, visible to Rodgers and only those inside the organization as well, drew internal criticism inside the walls of Lambeau.
At the impressionable stage of his career, the message - intentional or subliminal - was driven further in to Rodgers in what he was not supposed to do, which is throw interceptions.
Rodgers had to focus his attention and energy during the 2008 season on replacing Favre, emerging as a leader and anticipating a repeat playoff season.
Rodgers was also adamant that he not throw a pick. His goal was to keep it under 10 (he had 13). And he was especially harsh on himself when he did.
We know turnovers are costly to teams. The Packers study such events and know the odds are against the team that falls behind in the turnover ratio.
So, it's always been coach Mike McCarthy's philosophy to ask his defense to make up for it.
It's not bad that Rodgers is mindful of each possession. But perhaps, it has gone to the extent of holding on too tightly and not trusting the arm, the play called, the receiver or his very own eyes.
And who can fault Rodgers? Against the Bears and the Bengals, he has already withstood 10 sacks and eight dropped balls by his receivers.
But there's more than Xs and Os going on in that head of his. While he is beyond all the comparisons to his predecessor, he still has the nature and personality of someone who wants to succeed and needs to make people believe in him.
The solution, of course, is that the offensive line has to start playing better and the receivers have to catch the ball. Some resemblance to a running game would be absolute joy.
But if the walls keep crumbling and Rodgers has to turn in to football's Bear Grylls, developing his own survival techniques, it will wear away at the very mission that got him here in the first place.
And that's not good for him or the Packers.
Send e-mail to lnickel@journalsentinel.com