Getty Aaron Rodgers will go head-to-head with Bill Belichick's Patriots for the third time in his career this week.
The mutual respect runs both ways between Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and longtime New England Patriots leader Bill Belichick.
Rodgers was asked about Belichick during his September 27 appearance on The Pat McAfee Show with the presumption that the four-time MVP has at least some respect for the legendary Patriots coach and general manager. Turns out, Rodgers thinks more highly of Belichick than most people realize and he didn’t hold back praising him.
“Well, he’s the best coach of all time,” Rodgers told McAfee on Tuesday. “He’s a legend, a living legend. He’s been ahead of the game for a long, long time. He makes incredible in-game adjustments, halftime adjustments, third-quarter adjustments, fourth-quarter adjustments — whatever it takes.”
Rodgers vs. Belichick Series History Locked at 1-1
The Packers have played Belichick and the Patriots three times since Rodgers took over as their starting quarterback, but the two have only actually faced each other twice with Rodgers missing their 2010 matchup due to a concussion. The Packers started Matt Flynn in his place and dropped a close one, 31-27, in December at Gillette Stadium despite Flynn passing for three touchdowns.
In terms of head-to-head battles, though, Rodgers and Belichick have each come out on top once with Rodgers winning in 2014 and Belichick and his Patriots most recently defeating the Packers in 2018 during Tom Brady’s second-to-last season in New England. Rodgers also said he learned a valuable lesson about Belichick in their 2014 matchup based on the defensive strategies he used against them.
“You know that there’s going to be an initial idea about what they want to take away from our offense, and then they’ll have two or three [backup plans], a Plan B, a Plan C and a Plan D,” Rodgers said. “We figured that out in 2014. I’ve told this before: They wanted to take away Jordy [Nelson] and Randall [Cobb], we went to Davante [Adams]. And then they want to take away Davante and [we] went to Jordy. Then when they really take away Jordy for sure and Davante, we went to Randall. That’s what they do, they’re always mixing it up. There’s different fronts, he’s added an extensive zero-blitz scheme to the repertoire. But he’s a fantastic coach and you just never know exactly what you’re going to get, but you’ve got to be ready for all of it.”
Belichick Says Rodgers Has ‘Really No Weaknesses’
Respect isn’t always a two-way street, but it does run that way between Rodgers and Belichick. The Patriots boss made that much clear during his September 26 interview with The Greg Hill Show when he was asked what makes Rodgers great in his eyes.
“Pretty much everything,” Belichick said of Rodgers. “He’s very smart. A very good athlete. He’s got very good quickness and the ability to avoid and escape guys in the pocket to extend plays. Really no weaknesses with the player at all. Tremendous amount of experience in game situation management. He’s as good as there is.”
The Packers (2-1) will host the Patriots (1-2) at Lambeau Field for their Week 4 matchup at 4:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, October 2.