One day after Aaron Rodgers publicly called out the Green Bay Packers’ young receivers, the quarterback had some more grounded advice for them in a private meeting.
On Tuesday, Rodgers had some harsh words for the team’s group of wide receivers, a unit that is largely untested outside of veterans Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard. Rodgers publicly vented about “a lot of drops, a lot of bad route decisions, running the wrong route” and called for more consistency and improvement.
On Wednesday, Rodgers spoke at a meeting that included the team’s wide receivers, quarterbacks and passing game coaches, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN. Rodgers spoke “extensively” during the meeting, as did Cobb and Lazard.
“It was just really giving us advice,” seventh-round rookie Samori Toure said. “Basically, letting us know that the Green Bay receiving corps has always been held to a super-high standard. All the legends who have been through here. It’s just about us carrying on that standard and stepping up.”
Romeo Doubs, a fourth-round pick, said Rodgers “wants us to see what he sees, so then that way we can be able to react faster, play faster and just be able to dominate and continue to be who we are.”
This is certainly an indication of what kind of difficulties the Packers may face this season. They traded away star receiver Davante Adams in the offseason and essentially replaced him with a series of rookies and veteran Sammy Watkins. That will not provide Rodgers with the level of comfort he is accustomed to, and he has not exactly had a glowing assessment of the offense so far during camp.
The Packers would probably prefer Rodgers to keep his frustrations in-house and address them privately as he did on Wednesday. Whether that happens remains to be seen.
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