Packers’ Aaron Rodgers calls out young WRs for drops, bad routes: ‘We’ve got to be way more consistent’
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has routinely praised his stable of young pass-catching weapons during the 2022 NFL offseason. However, his attitude towards them changed on Tuesday.
Rodgers publicly expressed his frustration with his young receivers after training with the Saints Tuesday. The veteran quarterback was particularly annoyed by the lack of precision in the course run and the drops during the session.
“The young people, especially the young recipients, we need to be a lot more consistent,” Rodgers said, per ESPN. “Many crashes, many wrong route decisions, drove the wrong route. We have to get better at that.”
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Rodger’s anger with the young pass catchers may have boiled over on Tuesday, but it’s been simmering beneath the surface since the team’s 28-21 loss in the preseason opener to the 49ers on Friday.
In that contest, backup quarterback Jordan Love threw three interceptions; However, Rodgers thought the blame for some of them lay with the recipients.
“I felt really bad for Jordan the other night because we’re having some total mental breakdowns for picks,” Rodgers told Packers Wire after the game. “We had a drop for a pick. Two guys ran who knows what onto the third. He probably shouldn’t have thrown the ball there, but some of it is veteran stuff and makes veteran mistakes.”
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Rookie wide-out Romeo Doubs, whom Rodgers lavished praise on throughout training camp, was responsible for one of Love’s interceptions. He had a pass ripped off when he fell to the ground for Love’s second turnover of the day.
Challenge accepted 😤 @SamW0mack with the snack.
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— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) August 13, 2022
Additionally, Doubs had a crucial drop during Tuesday’s practice against the Saints in what Rodgers considered his “best shot of the day.”
Rodgers didn’t name Doubs by name, but his message to all his young receivers looking to replace Davante Adams was clear, according to ESPN.
If you keep dropping the ball, you won’t be out there. It will be the most reliable guys out there. Preparation and work responsibility is most important. There will be physical errors, as we discussed, but if you go out there and drop the ball and someone else behind you is in the right place all the time and catches the ball, this guy is going to play.
Rodgers is hoping the recent drops and errors are just a few flashes on the radar. But with the NFL regular season fast approaching, he felt the need to warn his receivers to clean up their games.
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Otherwise, it will be difficult for the quarterback to really trust them in September.
“We’ll play our best guys when the season starts,” Rodgers said. “And whoever these guys are, these guys are going to get the reruns. They’re the guys I trust the most and the guys the coaches trust the most.”