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The times are finally a changin' for the Green Bay Packers, and Aaron Rodgers seems excited about the ups and downs that will inevitably come along. The future Hall-of-Fame quarterback sat down with NFL Network at Saturday night's NFL Honors ceremony, discussing his long-time team's coaching changes and how he feels physically after an injury-riddled last two seasons.
“A lot of change, in life in general, it’s tough at first,” Rodgers said of Green Bay replacing Mike McCarthy with Matt LaFleur, per the team website. “But it usually works out for the best so I'm excited about what's going on in Green Bay and the future there.”
McCarthy, the only coach Rodgers' has ever played for in his 11-year career, was fired in early December following an embarrassing loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals. Though he led the Packers to a title in 2010 and made the playoffs every season from 2009 to 2016, McCarthy's welcome was worn out in Green Bay after his failure to evolve offensively prevented the team from reaching the postseason each of the past two years.
LaFleur was hired to replace him on January 8 after spending the 2018 season as offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. He was previously with the Los Angeles Rams and Atlanta Falcons, where he received widespread credit for the rapid development of Jared Goff and the 2016 MVP campaign of Matt Ryan. It's easy to imagine LaFleur getting the best out of Rodgers, who played the majority of the 2018 season while fighting through a knee injury.
“My body feels really good,” Rodgers said. “Instead of getting surgery postseason, decided to kind of go through a different routine with my knee than I've done in the past, and I'm feeling really, really good. Got a concussion the last game, that's cleared up. I'm feeling really good. I'm getting back into my workout routine, but the first month of the offseason is a lot about yoga and traveling.”
After he was hired, LaFleur stressed the need for the Packers to not only make life easier on Rodgers by establishing a strong running game but also open up the offense to maximize the gifts of a quarterback many believe is the most talented to ever play the position.
