NFL fans that were hoping to see a lot of Aaron Rodgers during the preseason will be a little disappointed because the two-time league MVP will have a reduced workload during the preseason. The Packers are one of the NFL expert picks to make it out of the NFC, and the team will take every precaution it can to make sure they don’t put the quarterback at risk during the preseason.
Rodgers, who will turn 33 in December is now and elder statesman in the NFL, which means the Packers will do anything they can to avoid putting extra wear and tear on their franchise quarterback. However, the fact that he won’t get a lot of playing time during the preseason shouldn’t come as a surprise to people who watch the NFL because teams usually don’t let their star players play too much in the preseason to prevent injuries.
After the injuries that affected the Packers in the preseason last year, it is understandable that they want to protect their top players. The season-ending injury Jordy Nelson suffered significantly changed the offense last year, which was the least productive Green Bay’s offense had been in years. Randall Cobb also dealt with a nagging injury he suffered in the preseason, which affected him all season long.
Now that Rodgers has admitted the team plans to reduce his workload during the preseason, it is safe to assume that he won’t get a lot of playing time, if any, against the Indianapolis Colts this weekend during the Hall of Fame game.
On the other side of things, Chuck Pagano, the coach of the Colts, said he plans on giving his starters a lot of playing time when they play the Packers this weekend.
Pagano’s decision makes sense because his team is still very young, and a lot of the players, including quarterback Andrew Luck, will benefit from the playing time. Even though Pagano says he will play his starters, don’t expect them to play more than a quarter or two at most.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he would make his decision about the players that will start against the Colts on Friday.
Last season, Rodgers played in only two of the team’s preseason games and did not play in the preseason finale for the third consecutive season. However, the Packers have not played in the Hall of Fame game since 2003, so this will be the first time McCarthy and Rodgers will participate in the match.
Since the team will play in five preseason games this year, McCarthy said he would use the extra game to give the younger players some extra time on the field.
Rodgers said he is on board with whatever coach McCarthy wants to do, if the coach wants him to play in only one game or all five games, the quarterback said he would be ready to play.
Rodgers said he would attend the Hall of Fame ceremony to support former Green Bay legend Brett Favre, who is being inducted this year as well as Kevin Greene, a former Packers assistant coach. He will be joined by a contingent of Packers’ coaches and front-office executives.
Featured Image Credit: By original: Mike Morbeckderivative: Diddykong1130 (Aaron Rodgers) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
