AARON RODGERS DOES not want to be viewed as the saviour of the Green Bay Packers ahead of his long-awaited NFL return.
Rodgers has been cleared to make his comeback against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, having been sidelined since 15 October with a broken collarbone.
Rodgers understands expectations, but simply wants to play the way he has always played and help the Packers win their final three games.
“There’s an expectation of the way I play on Sunday and how I’m going to play. I enjoy those expectations,” the two-time NFL MVP said on Wednesday.
“I enjoy meeting those or exceeding those. That’s what it means to be a leader in this locker room and the quarterback of this team.
But I’m not coming back to save this team. I’m coming back to play quarterback the way I know how to play it and hopefully we all raise the level of our play collectively and find a way to win these three games.”
The Packers are 7-6 and just outside the NFC playoff picture. They need to win to have a realistic chance of making the postseason for a ninth consecutive season.
Green Bay were 4-1 when Rodgers was injured on the second offensive series of an eventual 23-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in October. The Packers have gone 3-5 since, including that loss to the Vikings, with Brett Hundley at quarterback.
All three of Green Bay’s remaining games are against other NFC playoff contenders. The Panthers (9-4) are tied for first in the NFC South. The Vikings (10-3) lead the North and the Detroit Lions (7-6) are right there with the Packers vying for a playoff spot.
Rodgers pointed out the fact that the Packers were 4-6 last season before ripping off six straight victories to win the NFC North.
“We’ve done it before,” he said.
“We did it last year. We were 4-6, and a lot of people counted us out. I saw something that we have 750-to-1 odds to make the playoffs. We’ve never shied away from those type of circumstances, and we’re not going to again.”
The42 has just published its first book, Behind The Lines, a collection of some of the year’s best sports stories. Pick up your copy in Eason’s, or order it here today (€10):
Class act. That fist pump
Packers were 2nd favorite for the Super Bowl before packers got injured, they dropped to 10th after he got injured. That’s how good he is. Brady plays in a better team. Rodgers is a better player.
Stud! Not Tom Brady elite but up there!
@Whatshisname: you don’t consider Rodgers on par with Brady? Must say I disagree especially when you factor in belichick and his ability to consistently build new teams .
Brady is a fantastic QB but I doubt he would have had the same success elsewhere, put Rodgers in as New England QB and he would hardly hamstring that hypothetical team.
@Shane Murphy: Yeah exactly. Packers are contenders with Rodgers. Without him they can barely beat the Browns. Patriots were just fine without Brady at the start of last season
@Whatshisname: Rodgers is better and it’s not close
@Whatshisname: If Rodgers had a proper O line half as good as the pats and a D that doesn’t resemble a sieve GB would be Super Bowl contenders every year! His ability is so natural unlike Brady who has refined a skill set! Not running Brady down, he’s an ultimate clutch player just like Rodgers! Both are ATGs
@Paddy O’Brien: They got shut out by the Bills without him……..
@Micheal Ralph: Rodgers does have a good o line Brady doesn’t
@Paddy O’Brien: Did you even watch the Super Bowl just 10 months ago???…The video of the Falcons players sitting on the bench discussing how the 25 point lead might not be good enough because the Patriots had “him”.
@Lord Clanricarde: the Edelman catch saved that game for the patriots, that’s the point really, the pats are a great team and if Rodgers was QB in that team he would be just as able as Brady