Packers Notebook (vs. Jets)

Rodgers’ deep passes

Remember that old Nike baseball commercial with the tag line of “Chicks Dig the Long Ball”?

One of the great passers in NFL history, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers digs the long ball, too. En route to winning his fourth MVP award last year, Rodgers completed 39.1% of his deep passes — throws 20-plus yards downfield — according to Pro Football Focus.

He was even better with 41.6% marksmanship in 2020. Rodgers led the NFL with 1,242 yards on deep passes and his 12 touchdowns were only one off the NFL lead as he won his third MVP.

This year has not been close to his standard. In a passing game struggling to find its footing without All-Pro Davante Adams and speedster Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Rodgers is one of the worst deep passers in the league. Of 28 quarterbacks with at least 12 deep passes, Rodgers is 24th in accuracy (27.3%) and yards per attempt (8).

He went 0-for-5 in the loss to the Giants. LaFleur stopped short of saying Rodgers needs to throw the ball better but that seemed to his point.

“I know on that third down late in the game, there was pretty good coverage,” LaFleur said. “I know there was a little bit of contact but you’re rarely going to get that called. And a couple of the other ones, we just … let’s just face it, the further you throw the ball down the field, the less percentage it is that it’s going to be complete.

“And so, I’m sure you always would like to throw the perfect ball on every play, and that’s just not going to happen every time. I think there’s some things we can do from a protection standpoint to maybe give Aaron a tick more time to him being balanced in the pocket and then the wideouts creating separation. I think everybody can improve.”

Can-do attitude

A hallmark of Green Bay’s offense are “can” plays. For instance, LaFleur calls a specific running play that Rodgers “can” change to a specific passing play, typically a “run solution” that’s a quick flip into the flat.

Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale dared the Packers to pass the ball by inserting an additional defender into the box. So, Rodgers threw the ball — a lot. There were 41 passes vs. only 20 runs.

Giving a veteran quarterback latitude at the line of scrimmage is smart football. After all, why be stuck running a play that he knows has no chance to work based on the defense’s alignment and tendencies? Throwing the football vs. a loaded box is smart football, too, just as is running the ball against a light box.

The drawback to that approach was obvious on Sunday. Without Adams, the Packers don’t have a go-to receiver to take advantage of defenses that are focused on stopping the run. So, Rodgers kept throwing the football and the team’s top playmakers, running backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, became complementary pieces. Jones had 13 carries and Dillon had only six even though they routinely had success.

“Going into the game, controlling the line of scrimmage was going to be pivotal,” LaFleur said. “I thought we did have some vs. loaded boxes where we got some really good push up front and we were getting like 5 yards a carry. After looking back at it, it’s definitely a fine line.

“We had a lot of runs called where we were throwing those run solutions. And the thing is, it’s kind of a double-edged sword because the run solutions were being pretty effective. It’s just that it does limit you in regard to now you’re not getting two of your best players the ball. I’ve got to do a better job of making sure that we’re getting those guys the necessary touches. We’ve got to be — I’m talking to myself — more disciplined in our approach in terms of making sure that they get the necessary touches throughout the course of the game.”

Amari Rodgers’ struggles

With no role on offense whatsoever, last year’s third-round pick, receiver Amari Rodgers, has been limited to return duty.

The Packers benched him on kickoffs against the Giants but he was back on the field after rookie Christian Watson suffered yet another hamstring injury. On punts, he fumbled against the Giants — his second in four weeks.

“I told him during the game, I said, ‘You have got to do a better job of taking care of the football. That’s part of your responsibility,’” LaFleur said. “He does a great job fielding the punts, no doubt about it. But it’s just the ball carriage. And once you put that on tape, guess what’s coming your way? Those guys are going to be clawing at the football.

“The Jets do a great job of that. You can see it all over their tape, their ability to punch. We call it punch-hammer-rake at the ball. And so we know it’s coming, now we’ve got to make sure we do a good job of protecting that football.”

Crossing guards

The secondary was supposed to be the strength of the Packers. And in some ways, that’s been the case. Green Bay ranks second with 177 passing yards allowed per game and eighth with 9.1 yards per completion.

However, the Packers have intercepted only one pass — the Giants are the only team with zero — and have been eaten alive on crossing routes. Of the 885 passing yards allowed, 327 have come on crossing routes – most in the NFL, according to PFF.

The Packers have to get that fixed as they’ll face a much better receiver corps this week vs. the Jets than they did vs. the Giants’ injury-plagued group.

“No. 1 is the urgency to get lined up and get ready to play,” LaFleur said. “Going back and watching the tape, there were moments when we got other crossing routes that we were all over, that we were glovey. And then there’s times when we’re just a little bit off and guys are moving around and not in the best position pre-snap and we have a hard time taking those crossing routes and we get beat.

“If you’re a little late, you’re going to get beat and you’re going to give up big explosive plays and we all know that explosive plays lead to points.”