Quick, when was the last time Aaron Rodgers took part in a full speed practice?
How about October 22. That was two days before the Packers hosted the Washington Football Team at Lambeau Field. Then they crushed a week’s worth of preparation into a Tuesday walkthrough before traveling to Arizona for the Thursday night game against the Cardinals. The whole team got the long weekend off, returned for a walk through on Monday after the mini-bye, got Tuesday, November 2nd off, and the next morning, Rodgers popped a positive COVID-19 test and was quarantined until the day before the Seahawks game last weekend.
He also injured his toe somewhere along the line and he spent Wednesday away from the team doing rehabilitation and today, it was a comfort wear watching session.
It’s been a very disjointed month, not just for the quarterback, but the entire squad. Remember they were missing their top three receivers for the Cardinals game. Then Rodgers was completely out of the building for 10 days.
The offensive play has been just as discombobulated. Rodgers was throwing to Randall Cobb and practice squad receivers against Arizona, granted, having Jordan Love taking the snaps against the Chiefs didn’t help. Last week wasn’t very sharp either until the 4th quarter.
Now Rodgers won’t be taking a snap again until the Packers have the ball against the Minnesota Vikings in an important NFC North game at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
Even Head Coach Matt LaFleur admitted before the Seattle game the unit’s timing and level of execution has been off and it can’t get much better when they’re spending another week without practicing together.
Davante Adams has been a limited participant, Allen Lazard hasn’t practiced all week with a shoulder injury and now Aaron Jones is down for a couple of weeks with his MCL sprain suffered against the Seahawks.
And we haven’t gotten to David Bakhtiari yet. The All Pro Offensive tackle has been practicing for three weeks, he’s been brought out of the PUP house and onto the active roster but he, like Rodgers, was wearing sweats at practice. LaFleur appears to be getting tired of answering the question of when Bakhtiari will finally take the field. When asked if the left tackle had a setback with his rehabilitation, LaFleur bristled.
It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in week 11 either. Offensive Line Coach Adam Stenavich said on Wednesday, Bakhtiari has shown moments of his Pro Bowl form at times but he hasn’t been able to sustain it over the course of a couple of days in a row. You wonder if he could find and maintain that level of play for an entire 60 minutes. Stenavich said the coaching staff has considered possibly breaking Bakhtiari in for a series here or a series there to get a better gauge.
Sunday’s game against the Vikings will also give a couple of young players an opportunity they’ve been waiting a long time for. While A.J. Dillon will be the lead back on offense with an increased work load, Patrick Taylor is likely to get some spot duty. He had a couple of carries for 7 yards against Seattle after getting promoted to the 53 man roster following Kylin Hill’s season ending knee injury. Taylor is tall and lean but runs with some pop. LaFleur said he is a meticulous note taker in meetings, a notebook comparable to a quarterback’s.
On defense, Tipa Galaei is now on the 53 with the outside linebacking group thinned by injury. While Rashan Gary has been practicing with a brace on his left elbow, Whitney Mercilus is done for the year with a torn biceps. Galaei was active for one game as a Utah State rookie last year and spent the rest of his time on the practice squad. The coaching staff says he’s always hustling but a light frame (6-5, 229) has to be overcome. If Gary is limited against Minnesota, Galaei along with Jonathan Garvin will be asked to set the edge against Dalvin Cook and the Viking running game, and get after Kirk Cousins on dropbacks.
The Packers, week after week, have found ways to survive. They’re desperate to get two more games behind them, Minnesota this week and a huge NFC battle with the Los Angeles Rams at home before finally hitting their week 13 bye.
If practice makes perfect, the Packers of late are hoping practice, with whomever is on the field, continues to be good enough.
