Getty Aaron Rodgers feels like a simpler Packers offense could help everyone.
The Green Bay Packers sunk to a new low on Sunday with their blowout loss to the New York Jets at home, leading many to start questioning head coach Matt LaFleur and his ability to call an effective offensive gameplan for his team.
Aaron Rodgers, however, believes things could improve significantly if the coaching staff can figure out a way to simplify the plan for the offense moving forward.
The four-time NFL MVP quarterback was asked extensively about the current state of the Packers’ offense in the aftermath of their 27-10 loss to the Jets in Week 6 and made it clear he believes the blame falls on the players — not the coaches — for failing to execute the gameplan consistently. At the same time, he feels a simpler offense could help address some of the issues and get them back on track, as it has in the past.
“All of it. I don’t want to get too specific, and I’m not attacking anything,” Rodgers said when asked what he’d like to see simplified. “I just think that based on how we’ve played the last two weeks I think it’s going to be in our best interests to simplify things for everybody. For the line, for the backs, for the receivers, especially with Cobby’s injury. Just simplify some things and maybe that’ll help us get back on track.”
Rodgers: The Need for Simplicity ‘Is Not a New Thing’
Rodgers spent quite a bit of his postgame press conference on October 16 advocating for a simpler offense moving forward, but he also doesn’t want people thinking this is a new issue that has come about because of the youth occupying their receiver room. Even with All-Pro wideout Davante Adams in the lineup, the issue of trying to do too much offensively was prevalent whenever things weren’t working out for the Packers.
Here’s the full quote from Rodgers on the need for simplicity:
Whether it’s with Davante Adams out there or no Davnate Adams, when we get into problems is when we maybe try and do too much. There’s multiple times, but in the past, based on the personnel or the way we were playing, we could get through that and win some of those games. This is not a new thing that I’m saying here, this has been part of every season, even in 2019. It wasn’t like we were game-busters to start the season, but there were times when we needed to rein it in a little bit. Let’s just simplify some things, make sure our guys are playing with confidence. That being said, the standard is the standard and the plays that we had in were easily understood and executable, so this is not an attack on the staff at all because they put in a plan that can win football games. But the execution, when it looks like that, it’s not good enough, so we do probably need to rein it in a bit, but like I’ve said this has happened in 19, 20, 21, all the same, it’s just different personnel, different years, different momentums, different energy.
Rodgers Defends Matt LaFleur & Offensive Gameplan
While the players’ execution has been problematic for the Packers, there are plenty who feel LaFleur deserves a healthy share of the blame for some of his more frustrating decisions as a play-caller. One tendency that has emerged throughout the first six games in 2022 is that the Packers seem reluctant to run the ball whenever they face adversity early, leading to dizzying series of stunted passing plays that seem to ignore the presence of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon in the backfield.
Still, Rodgers recognizes the value of having a complex game plan when the personnel suits it. With the current personnel, though, the simple life could be a winning life.
“Nobody works harder than Matt on the plan each week and nobody comes with better ideas than him or his staff, but if it’s not working, it’s not because those guys aren’t grinding,” Rodgers said. “It’s because we’re not executing. If we think we have the right players, then we need to simplify things. If you don’t, then that’s a whole other conversation.”