Green Bay If there's one absolute about Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, it's that he stands his ground.
He's done it on the field facing an onslaught of pass rushers behind a shaky offensive line.[img_r]http://media.jsonline.com/images/199*197/aaron101409.jpg[/img_r]
And on Wednesday he dismissed challenges from reporters, fueled by comments from his coaches, that he has been holding the ball for too long in the pocket.
In each instance Rodgers took his hits and vowed to keep throwing - for better or for worse.
"I did hold the ball probably a couple times too long," Rodgers said. "But I'm playing quarterback the way that I know how to play quarterback instinctually, trusting my feet, trusting my time clock and that's going to happen at some point. I'm going to hold the ball too long, maybe feeling like I'm not under pressure, not seeing the pressure. But I'm not going to change."
If Rodgers wasn't going to adjust his play against the Vikings, it's a wonder if he ever will.
He took the field knowing coach Mike McCarthy specifically put in a quick-hit offensive scheme to deal with a vaunted Vikings defense playing on a fast surface with deafening crowd noise as a definite factor.
Rodgers also knew he was playing behind a line that had a guard (Daryn Colledge) at left tackle, and a right tackle (Allen Barbre) who has gotten off to the shakiest of starts in pass protection, especially in big games.
One might have figured Rodgers would "choke up on the bat" a little in that scenario. If you go from facing an 85-mph junkballer (the winless St. Louis Rams) to a guy who brings heat at 95-plus, it might be wise to shorten up your swing a little. That was McCarthy's plan. It wasn't for Rodgers.
"I was going with the opposite perspective," Rodgers said. "I'm going to be under pressure all night, but the last thing I want to do is speed up the way I'm playing and speed up my progressions. I need to continue playing at the same speed, and to trust the line, stay in the pocket.
"I watched last year's film at Minnesota, and I felt like I had gotten out too early. I passed over a guy in my progression. So I was telling myself all week, be patient, play fast but play under control. They got to me a few times, that's what happened."
Rodgers stopped short of calling out his offensive line, which has given up a league-leading 20 sacks. That total is more than the Packers allowed each year in 2003, '04 and '07, the last three seasons Green Bay went to the playoffs.
"We need to all do our jobs, myself included, and I'm going to do better and get the ball out of my hands as quickly as I can," Rodgers said. "But we need to protect a little better as well."
But Rodgers does need to improve his pocket awareness. McCarthy made that clear on Monday.
"We didn't call a lot of plays where we were holding the ball," McCarthy said. "That was part of the design. When you play up there in that noise, they're playing a little bit downhill on you when they know it's a pass. I think that's evident to everybody. Holding the ball sometimes is not what we want to do.
"It's really the combination of some of the things in the protection unit that we need to do a better job of, and frankly, some of it falls on the quarterback decision and his time clock."
The numbers certainly back up McCarthy.
On six of the eight sacks the Packers allowed, Rodgers had opportunities to either dump the ball off to a check-down receiver or throw it away completely.
One sack was a miscommunication with receiver James Jones after Rodgers checked out of a running play at the line. Everyone but Rodgers performed the play as a fullback dive.
On the final sack, Rodgers had no chance as rookie T.J. Lang allowed Vikings defensive end Jared Allen to blow by him.
Rodgers said the target times for his release are around 3 seconds for deep drops and play-action, and under 2 seconds for three-step drops.
Both Rodgers and Vikings quarterback Brett Favre ran similar West coast offenses under game plans that called for them to get rid of the ball quickly. Rodgers dropped back three steps or fewer 68% of the time 71% for Favre.
Rodgers average ball release time vs. the Vikings was 2.77 seconds on 47 dropbacks (37 attempts, eight sacks and two runs). Brett Favres was 2.41 seconds 2.26 if you throw out the ridiculous 7.33 he had to complete one throw.
A half-second is an eternity in the passing game.
Both quarterbacks were much more efficient when they got the ball out in 2.5 seconds or less. Favre completed 86% of his passes when he did that, 55% when he did not. Rodgers hit on 79.2% and 53.8%.
Unfortunately for the Packers, Rodgers unloaded the ball under 2.5 seconds on only 53.2% of his dropbacks. Favre did it 71% of the time.
Rodgers was actually at his best when he held the ball 2.25 seconds or less, perhaps an indication of the differences in the offensive lines protecting each quarterback.
In that timeframe, Rodgers completed 18 of 21 passes (85.7%) for 296 yards with a touchdown and was sacked once (134.6 passer rating). Over 2.25 seconds, Rodgers was 8 of 16 (50%) for 77 yards with a touchdown and an interception (61.5 rating). And seven of his eight sacks and two scrambling runs came over 2.25 seconds.
The difference between Favre and Rodgers at this point is Favre knows he cant out-run anybody with his 40-year-old legs. So he has no choice but to stay in the pocket.
Rodgers can run and knows his legs are dangerous. He is still learning to balance the run and pass.
Hes making a lot of good plays with his feet, but it also has caught us sometimes, McCarthy said.
But he has no doubt his quarterback will make the proper adjustments.
Aaron Rodgers is a very coachable quarterback, McCarthy said. The strength of his game is his decision-making. Weve had some things were going to improve on as we move forward. Those have been addressed, and I have full confidence that hes going to play at a high level.