My Aaron Rodgers Blog

#23 - Green Bay Packers - Anthony Davis - Rutgers

The Packers did very well without Brett Farve, and Aaron Rodgers is quickly getting out of his shadow. Rodgers won't be able to get to NFL top 5 quarterback status if he gets hit as much as he did last year. He tied for 1st with Ben Roethlisberger in being sacked 50 times. Roethlisberger is known to hold the ball for too long and try to extend the play, Rodgers is not known for that. For stretches last year, the pass protection for Rodgers was horrible. The team needs to pick it up and that starts with drafting a LT. Anthony Davis is considered by some as the best pass-blocker, so there must be a reason he's available this low. Character concerns will determine how far Anthony Davis drops, but the Packers would have to take the risk and hope Davis works hard in Green Bay where there isn't a lot else to do. His character concerns are weight and work ethic because he didn't work out or even get on a scale at the Rutgers pro day.

The Packers defense gave up the least amount of rushing yards last year, 83.3 per game, so it appears Dom Capers switch to the 3-4 worked. The pass defense only gave up 201 yards per game, good for 5th in the NFL. The offense is also explosive, where the only help the team needs is in the rushing attack. A dominant LT would help the run game along with keeping Rodgers upright.

It's not a given that the Vikings will win the NFC North if Farve comes back because the Packers young players continue to get better and surprise the Farve loving media.

You cannot watch football this season without hearing about Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. They have been over analyzed in every way possible. So much attention surrounds the legend and the rising star who replaced him. They have faced each other twice already this season, both with a Favre victory, yet the discussions don't seem to subside for a moment. So, to add on to this intense analysis, let us explore the foot injuries of the two athletes!

Prior to the Viking and Packer game, Favre had his first report on the Viking's injury list with foot pain. Nothing more was said about the issue other than that he had a sore foot. The irony of the situation is that after the game, Rodgers suffered from a foot and a toe sprain. Is this the beginning of the end? Did Favre get the last word through foot injuries?

A sprain describes an injury in which a ligament between two bones is stretched, damaged or torn. A Grade 1 injury is fairly mild with only minor damage to the ligament. A Grade 2 injury is a partially torn ligament and a Grade 3 is a ligament that is completely torn. With a grade 1 injury, the recovery time is short with very few possible complications.

On the other hand, a grade 3 can takes months to heal and is often extremely painful. Foot sprains are rare in the general population, but are common in sports that put the foot in abnormal twisting positions. Such injuries usually result in a grade 1 or grade 2 damage and complete recovery can be seen within the season with much improvement in only weeks.

Treatment consists of rest, icing, strapping, and anti-inflammatory drugs. A sprained big toe is better known as turf toe. This usually results when the big toe is abnormally hyper-extended. This injury can often be more debilitating than a foot sprain because of the important role the big toe plays in pushing off the ground when running. The grading system is the same as a foot sprain with Grade 1 being a minor injury and grade 3 being more severe.

To prevent further damage with the ability to continue activities, taping techniques have been proven quite effective. The severity of the foot injuries of Favre and Rodgers has been downplayed and seeing their continued performance on the field allows us to assume they are minor.

Still, these injuries can be very painful and increases the risk for a more severe injury. To prevent further injuries, both players should be undergoing physical therapy and switch to a more stable shoe gear. The cleats and the flexibility of football shoes increase the chance that the foot will be twisted in a position that could worsen the injury.

Rodgers' first line of treatment should be to have more protection on the field. It is likely that the injury resulted after one of his many sacks this season. Favre, has age working against him. Younger athletes tend to recover better and faster than older athletes, but Favre has proven that age does not define his ability to play football. Only time will tell if these injuries will advance to a more serious problem that will take them off the field.

The likelihood of these injuries progressing is unlikely since they seem to be only presenting with minor symptoms. Thus, the live football drama series of Favre versus Rodgers will continue.

The 2008 pre-season training camp has begun right on time this week in Green Bay, and without legendary quarterback Brett Favre who is still in limbo as to where he will wind up playing football this year after changing his mind about retirement. This has created what is essentially a dark cloud over himself, the Green Bay Packers, and the National Football League in general. This is indeed a rather unfortunate situation after such a stellar partnership between Favre and the Packers.

There have been many discussions and polls and news stories about who is more in the right, Brett  or the Green Bay Packers. Should Favre have stuck to his decision to retire (or at least put more thought into it before announcing the retirement)? The answer is probably a resounding yes. Although he basically caused this mess, should the Green Bay Packers focus on starting an unknown and unproven quarterback to lead the team's offense (while turning an absolute cold shoulder to Brett Favre)? The answer is probably a resounding no.

The team marches on. This along with the fact that Brett Favre did retire could possibly make an interested individual stop and think that if he wants to come back, why not accept the role of second string quarterback to the unproven Aaron Rodgers. If he did this there would be a real likelihood that he would wind up playing more in the games than Rodgers anyway.

Brett Favre is probably not the type of person to let his ego stand in the way of him making a decision on this. This will however unfortunately greatly taint a perfect sixteen year relationship between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

Maybe the ultimate end to this would be if Brett Favre did accept the second position. He would be back to playing professional football for the only team that he should appropriately be a part of (honor), and he would be helping the Packers by offering them his services as one of the great quarterbacks of all time. Helping the Packers in this fashion would be greatly appreciated by all Green Bay fans. There would be no shame in this because everyone understands retirement.

It is very rare and very special when a relationship develops between one professional sports team and one player which lasts for sixteen years and goes down in history as being so unique. An unfortunate tainted legacy indeed.

Author Troy Sevine is a life long Green Bay Packer fan and a freelance writer who reaches hundreds of readers every day.

The Green Bay Packers took second place in the NFC North division last season with an 11-5 record. That mark was good enough to land one of the NFC Wild Card spots. But the Packers weren't able to do any damage in the playoffs. The defense was completely embarrassed, giving up 51 points to Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals.

While Green Bay's defense was strong statistically, it had no answer for high-powered passing attacks. Warner, Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger all had big games against the Packers.

With Favre likely to return this season, the Packers will have to find a way to solve their pass coverage issues if they are going to best the Minnesota Vikings for an NFC North title.

Offense: Led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers have the potential to boast the most explosive offense in the NFL. Even with poor play on the offensive line, Green Bay still ranked No. 3 in the league in scoring offense last season (28.8 points per game). In fact, Rodgers still blasted the opposition for 4,434 passing yards and 30 touchdowns despite running for his life nearly every game. He was sacked a ridiculous 50 times.

The line should be better this season if tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher can stay healthy. The Packers also drafted Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year Bryan Bulaga to give them additional depth. Bulaga could end up being a steal at pick No. 23.

Running back Ryan Grant, who has rushed for more than 1,200 yards each of the last two seasons, will also benefit from a healthier line.

Greg Jennings and Donald Driver form one of the better wide receiver duos in the entire NFL. These two combined for 2,174 yards and 10 scores on 138 grabs last season.

Defense: The first season in Dom Capers' new 3-4 proved to be a success. The Packers finished No. 2 in the NFL in total defense and led the entire league in takeaways. Green Bay was especially strong against the run, boasting the NFL's best run defense.

While the stat sheet says Green Bay finished No. 5 in the league against the pass, the team knows it still has some work to do in that area. The organization is hopeful that having Al Harris, Will Blackmon and Pat Lee back will go a long way toward shoring things up in pass coverage. These boys will certainly have to be up to the task as it is unlikely that Nick Collins and Charles Woodson will be able to dominate the way they did last year. Plus, the Packers still need to do something about their pass rush.

They said goodbye to Aaron Kampman because he wasn't a good fit in the 3-4. Now, Clay Matthews is the only player on the roster who had any success as a pass rusher last season.

Prediction: 2nd NFC North - Green Bay has enough talent to win the North, but I believe Minnesota is still the best team in the division if Favre comes back healthy. I don't even think a healthy line will be enough to keep Jared Allen from living in the Green Bay backfield.

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The Green Bay Packers have long been a model franchise of success and stability, boasting some of the greatest names in sports as well as one of the greatest coaches in history: Vince Lombardi.

After winning the first ever NFL championship, the Packers have consistently been a success in the league, but hit a wall in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. Then, the Packers once again became a perennial championship contender when they drafted a kid by the name of Brett Favre, who catapulted the team back to the forefront of the NFL. He became the face of the franchise and one of the greatest to ever play the position, a blueprint for what is is to be a blue-collared tough guy.

In 2004, the Packers were lucky enough to be able to draft Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback out of California, to take the often-waffling Favre's place when he finally retired. The Pack had its quarterback of the future.

When Favre began his first of a series of short-term retirements in 2008, the Packers decided Rodgers would be the new face of the franchise, but had some awfully large shoes to fill at quarterback.

In the years since, Aaron has proved more than up to the task, fast becoming one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL and leading his team to multiple winning seasons and playoff berths.

With his success, the fans have answered and embraced him with a passion as can be shown by the fact that Aaron Rodgers authentic jerseys are rapidly growing in popularity. But as popular as he has been in recent years, be prepared for a massive spike in value for any Packers Aaron Rodgers autographed items or Aaron Rodgers authentic jerseys, as he is now considered as one of the top five quarterbacks in the league.

In 2009, the unflappable Rodgers averaged a more than respectable 103.2 passer rating and threw for over 4,400 yards and 30 touchdowns as the Packers made the playoffs, eventually losing a heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals. But in that time Rodgers showed flashes of brilliance.

Green Bay is now poised to battle the Vikings for the NFC North crown and a run at the championship, and the new leader of the Pack is preparing for an even better year than the last. That's why this may be the last time to visit Green Bay Quarterback and grab Aaron Rodgers authentic jerseys and memorabilia while you can, because he's preparing to become one of the Packers' all-time greats.