Rodgers downplays sloppy practice showing by Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Asked about a sloppy showing by the Packers' offense the previous night, Aaron Rodgers channeled his inner Allen Iverson.

"Practice?" the quarterback said Tuesday in a deadpanned tribute to the NBA star's oft-imitated rant. "We're talking about practice? Not talking about the game, talking about practice, right?"

Rodgers acknowledged that Green Bay's offense made too many mistakes Monday night, but he didn't see any sense in dwelling on it.

And Rodgers firmly dismissed the notion that the reigning Super Bowl champions made a mistake by not coming together for informal practice sessions during the lockout, offering only a one-word answer: "No."

Rodgers will be talking about a game -- well, sort of -- instead of practice soon enough, as the Packers open preseason play Saturday at Cleveland after visiting the White House on Friday.

"I'm not sure how much we're going to play," Rodgers said. "Usually it's not a whole lot. Just get that timing back, maybe take a couple hits. Maybe one. And just get back into the swing of things."

Packers coach Mike McCarthy had harsh words for his team Monday night, saying they were "not close to where we need to be as a football team" after a practice filled with mental mistakes, penalties and fumbles by running backs James Starks and Ryan Grant.

McCarthy said at the beginning of camp that he didn't have an issue with the fact that his players didn't organize informal offseason workouts. Several teams did -- including the team the Packers will play in their regular-season opener, the New Orleans Saints.

Given the disjointed nature of the offseason, McCarthy said it might be expected that players across the league would make more mistakes in camp. Still, McCarthy said he's holding his players to the same standard he always does and now needs them to "mentally tighten it down."

Rodgers didn't want to overreact to one sloppy practice, but he did show frustration at mental mistakes by the offense -- something he believed might be the result of players not showing up in shape, although he didn't call his teammates out by name.

"To me, this is a self-motivated league," Rodgers said. "In order to be successful, you have to be willing to put the time in on your own. And part of that is coming into camp in shape. I think you saw last night, we got tired last night and there was a lot of mental mistakes. So we've got to pick up the urgency I think."

Rodgers hasn't been perfect himself, throwing an interception to undrafted rookie Brandian Ross in Saturday's rain-shortened Family Night event.

"It surprised me, too, I don't know what he's doing jumping that route," Rodgers joked. "Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good in a situation like that."

Rodgers said the defense generally is one step ahead of the offense at this point in camp, as the offense installs some of its more complex concepts.

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"So I'm not overly concerned about a practice like last night," Rodgers said. "I think the thing that you think about is the tempo and urgency. I feel good about where I'm at, I feel like I'm moving well in the pocket, the ball's coming out well. It'll be nice to get back on the field and start running stuff that we're going to run during the season."

Packers safety Nick Collins said the offense and defense try to make practices as competitive as possible -- both to get each other ready for the regular season and break up some of the monotony of camp.

"We feel, as a team, we give each other the best look for our opponents," Collins said. "We kind of make it interesting, have fun, crack little jokes."

An indication of that competitiveness: When an offensive player makes a shoestring catch in practice, defensive players on the sideline immediately yell and point to the ground, lobbying for an incompletion.

"That's just the characters that we have on this team," Collins said. "That's why I feel like we have another special group, and the sky's the limit for us. We've just got to go out and grab it, and at the same time, have fun doing it."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Rodgers' Super Bowl: Disney ad, Aguilera's flub, pregame fight

It was the biggest victory in Aaron Rodgers' career, but when he was ready to celebrate with teammates after the Green Bay Packers toppled the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, there was more work to do.

Can you say, "I'm going to Disneyland!"?

Rodgers could, but the postgame taping of the traditional Disney television advertisement after February's 31-25 victory in Arlington, Texas, wasn't so simple.

The Packers quarterback, who was the game's MVP after throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns, told ESPN Radio in Milwaukee that he was ready for the task. It just didn't go as he expected it would.

"I swear I said those words probably 12 times, no joke. I mean, you exaggerate and say 20 times, but it felt like 20 times," Rodgers said. "It was probably 12 times where I said, 'I'm going to Disneyland!' Because they kept coming up to me and saying, 'Oh, we didn’t get good audio there.' 'Oh, we need more energy.' ...

"The whole time, I'm thinking to myself -- and Disney people are great -- but I'm thinking to myself, 'I want to celebrate with my teammates.' Every five minutes, you see a huge guy. There's three guys. One huge guy. One guy with a camera and one guy with a sign, like, here's your line ... like I don't know what the lines are? Come on now.

"Every time I saw the real tall guys, I'm like, 'Oh, crap, I gotta say it again.' Finally, seriously, after about the eighth or ninth time, I go, 'Are you telling me you haven't gotten a good line yet?' They go, 'No. No. There's audio interference and whatnot.' "

Rodgers hid from the cameras earlier, during pregame -- "I don't like having that camera right in front of my face," he said -- and got to witness from up close the most talked-about moment of the afternoon, Christina Aguilera's national-anthem flub.

"First of all, the chick from 'Glee' (Lea Michele) killed the first song ('America the Beautiful'). She should have sang the anthem, too ...," Rodgers said. "I don't know who I was standing next to, but (Aguilera) starts singing it, and in most of the stadiums they have the words up on the board, kind of up-and-above the singer, so she can tell that she screwed up.

"She screwed up, and I knew it, and something was off. I'm looking around, going, 'Does anyone else realize this?' I don't think they had, (and) I kind of tapped ... I think it was Diyral Briggs next to me, and said, 'Hey, did you hear that?’'He was like, 'What?' I’m like, 'She just totally screwed it up.' ... I feel kind of bad for her, but at the same time, come on now?"

And then it's time to focus on the game, right? Think again.

"I have one (story) better than that one," Rodgers said. "We walked out for the coin toss, and at the Super Bowl, there are these long TV timeouts, so we go out for the coin toss. I'm one of the captains. There's five of us. The Steelers' guys are standing over there, and we're standing looking at each other for a good three minutes.

"Well, over to the left, about 10 cameramen have been trying to get in place for the best shot, and two of them are fighting. They're yelling at each other in different languages, flipping each other off, and one guy is flipping him off, and the other guy below him is just taking all of these pictures of him. ... They're both screaming at other and taking pictures of each other for a good minute and a half, and I'm tapping A.J. (Hawk), like, look at that over there! Look at those guys! It was unbelievable."

Rodgers says he hasn't watched a replay of the game -- he saw a little of the Packers' championship DVD at his parents' house -- but he's looking forward to receiving his Super Bowl ring. Will he tuck it away to keep it safe?

"Nah, I'll wear it," he said. "Not often, but I will wear it."

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Rodgers, Charles voted FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Year

NFL.com

DALLAS -- FedEx and the NFL announced Wednesday the winners of the eighth annual FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Year awards at a press conference in North Texas, site of Super Bowl XLV.

» Quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers was named the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Year.

Rodgers, unable to attend Wednesday's press conference due to his preparation for Super Bowl XLV, prepared a video to accept the honor.

"I'm truly honored to accept this award from FedEx as the NFL Air player of the year," Rodgers said. "I want to thank FedEx for their generous donation to Green Bay to help improve our communities. I'd like to thank my teammates and coaches and, most importantly, the fans that voted for me."

Packers legend and winner of Super Bowl I MVP Bart Starr also accepted the award on Rodgers' behalf.

"Obviously I'm very biased, but I've had the pleasure of getting to know (Rodgers). He's a superb gentleman," Starr said. "Aaron is a stand up guy, in my opinion. I know he means business on the field, you can see it. You can sense it, feel it. I really enjoy watching him because of that."

» Running back Jamaal Charles of the Kansas City Chiefs was named the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Year.

"I'd like to thank the fans for voting for me and I'd like to thank FedEx," Charles said. "Without my teammates and offensive line I wouldn't be able to do this."

In honor of the winners' outstanding play, FedEx is donating $25,000 to the Safe Kids USA coalitions in Green Bay and Kansas City, the local organizations in each player's market.

As part of the program during the season, FedEx supported local Safe Kids coalitions by making weekly $2,000 donations in each of the winning players' names to their communities. The funding was used for pedestrian safety improvements throughout the year, from upgraded crosswalks and safety signs to traffic barriers and educational training for children.

A closer look at the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Player of the Year finalists:

Brady finished the season completing 65.9 percent of his passes, throwing for 3,900 yards and 36 touchdowns. Brady threw only four interceptions in his 492 passes (0.81 percent), marking the third-best interception percentage in NFL history. He owns an active streak of 335 consecutive passes without an interception, the longest streak in NFL history, and passed for at least two touchdowns with no interceptions in the last nine games, the longest streak in league annals. In addition, he became only the seventh player to throw a TD pass in all 16 games of a season. Brady was nominated for five FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week awards in 2010, winning once.Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs Charles rushed for 1,467 yards and averaged 6.38 yards per carry (230 carries), helping the Kansas City Chiefs win the AFC West title and reach the playoffs. Charles joined Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown (291 attempts, 1,863 yards, 6.40 yards per carry in 1963) as the only players in NFL history to have at least 1,400 rushing yards and average more than 6.30 yards per carry in a single season. Charles played in all 16 games and had five rushing touchdowns including a 56-yard touchdown in Week 1. He was nominated for four FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week awards in 2010, winning once. Rivers led the NFL in passing with 4,710 yards, the 10th-most in a single season. With 2,649 passing yards through Week 8, Rivers set an NFL record for the most passing yards through a quarterback's first eight games of a season. His 1,562 passing yards during October set an NFL record for the most passing yards in the month. Rivers completed an NFL-leading 66 passes of at least 20 yards. Twelve of those went for touchdowns, second-most in the league. And he set a career high with six 300-yard games. Rivers was nominated for three FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week awards in 2010. Foster led the NFL in rushing with 1,616 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. During Week 1, Foster scored three touchdowns and rushed for a team-record 231 yards, a total that marks the second-best Kickoff Weekend rushing performance since 1933. He became the first player in NFL history to rush for at least 200 yards and three touchdowns on Kickoff Weekend. Foster was nominated for three FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week awards in 2010, winning twice.Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers Rodgers finished in the top 10 in nearly every major passing category this season, posting a 101.2 passer rating (third-highest), passing for 3,922 yards (seventh-highest), throwing 28 touchdowns (tied for sixth), posting a 65.7 completion percentage (sixth), and throwing 40 25-yard passes (second). Rodgers' 3,922 passing yards this season brought his total in three seasons as a starter to 12,394, ranking second in NFL history behind only Kurt Warner (12,612, 1999-2001)for the most passing yards by a quarterback in his first three seasons as a starter. Rodgers posted a passer rating of at least 110.0 during Week 9 and Weeks 11-13, making him him the only quarterback since 1970 to post a passer rating of at least 110.0 in four consecutive games in back-to-back seasons. Rodgers was nominated for three FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week awards in 2010, winning twice. Turner led the NFC in rushing with 1,371 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed 334 times, the most in the NFL in 2010. Turner played in all 16 games, starting 15 of them, helping the Falcons win the NFC South and lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the Playoffs. In Week 14, he had 28 carries for 112 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. Turner was nominated for four FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week awards in 2010.

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Packers QB Rodgers' status remains uclear vs. Giants

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- As of Monday, the Green Bay Packers couldn't say for sure that Aaron Rodgers will be able to play this weekend.

They did know this: Despite Sunday night's tough 31-27 loss at New England, the Packers still are virtually assured of a playoff spot if they win their final two games.

Even after watching yet another close game go the wrong way -- all six of the Packers' losses this season have come by four points or fewer -- Packers coach Mike McCarthy generally was upbeat about the way his team played in a road game against the NFL's hottest team with Rodgers on the sideline.

"You get angry, and you don't sweep anything under the rug," McCarthy said Monday. "There was a lot of positive aspects of the game last night that would lead to a very high performance level, and there's some things that we need to do a better job in, particularly in critical points in the game."

Rodgers sat out Sunday night's game a week after sustaining his second concussion of the season. McCarthy said he will have more information on Rodgers' availability Wednesday.

"We're still going through our medical process now with all of our players," McCarthy said.

Backup Matt Flynn played well in Rodgers' place, throwing for 251 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. He nearly rallied the Packers late in the fourth quarter, but a late drive ended with a sack.

"It's a tough one to swallow," Flynn said after the game. "It makes you sit there and think what you could have done different, make a play here, just things that kind of eat you up that you can't stop thinking about. It's definitely tough to swallow, but we've got to look forward. We've got two games left and we've still got things in front of us."

Flynn credited Rodgers with helping him out during his first career start.

"Me and Aaron talked all week," Flynn said. "He just told me to cut it loose and have fun out there, trust your preparation, trust your reads. He was with me the whole time on the sideline, talking to me. He was a big help to me."

Flynn said his inexperience wasn't a factor on the final drive.

The Packers were driving toward what could have been a game-winning touchdown, but got bogged down after a sack forced them to burn their third timeout with just under a minute remaining. A third-down pass from Flynn to Donald Driver came close to the first down marker, but the Packers lost valuable time while waiting for officials to determine if it was first down or fourth down.

They ended up a yard short. Flynn got one last snap off with the clock running down, but was sacked on the final play.

"That third-down play, we couldn't really tell if we got the first down or not," Flynn said. "We would have gone up and clocked the ball and had an opportunity to call a better play, but once they spotted it late, it was fourth down and we just had to go. I don't feel like it was inexperience. I've been around the game and we work 2-minute drills all the time."

McCarthy said the sack earlier in the drive hurt the Packers' ability to manage the clock, but the coach wasn't critical of the way Flynn handled the final two plays.

"I thought that Matt did fine with the operation of the third-down to the fourth-down play," McCarthy said. "They went with a three-man rush, Matt tried to extend the play -- which you like to do there -- and he was sacked."

Should Rodgers return to practice this week, it would give the Packers a big boost going into their final two games. The Packers host the New York Giants on Sunday, then face the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field a week later.

They'll likely have to face the Giants without defensive end Cullen Jenkins, who has missed the last two games with a lingering calf injury. McCarthy hopes Jenkins will be able to return for the regular season finale against Chicago.

McCarthy seemed optimistic about safety Nick Collins, who left Sunday's game with a rib injury. And he said outside linebacker Frank Zombo could return from a knee injury after sitting out Sunday's game.

Win both games, and the Packers are virtually assured a playoff spot.

"That sounds good, but we've got to win a close game," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "And we haven't done that. We haven't shown that we can do that yet."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Rodgers practices with Packers, continues concussion recovery

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was cleared by doctors and returned to practice with the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. Assuming he doesn't have a setback in his recovery from a concussion, he is optimistic that he will start Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins.

Rodgers practiced on a limited basis Thursday, taking the majority of snaps during the portion of practice that was open to the media.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Rodgers completed all the steps in the NFL's protocol to return to the field after a head injury, but the team will monitor his progress before naming him the starter against the Dolphins.

"I've gone through the process that the NFL requires," Rodgers said. "I've been cleared by our doctors, by an outside source. And I think it's just a matter of how I feel tomorrow. And I'm very optimistic."

Rodgers sustained a concussion during Sunday's overtime loss at Washington, but it's not clear -- even to the quarterback -- when he began experiencing the symptoms of a head injury.

McCarthy said Monday that Rodgers' concussion came on a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Packers' final offensive play of the game. Rodgers said that hit "definitely" made him feel worse and forced him out of the game, but he acknowledged that he wasn't feeling "completely normal" even earlier.

"Having never had a concussion before, it was definitely a learning process to understand how my body feels," Rodgers said. "Because obviously I've been dinged in the head a number of times, everything from in high school seeing the stars and stuff, to the different shots you take along the way. I think it was just a great learning process to understand how my body reacts to different situations."

According to NFL guidelines for head injuries, Rodgers must be symptom-free and cleared by a team doctor and independent neurological consultant before he can play again.

"The protocol as far as all the testing and so forth from the medical staff and the off-campus doctor has been completed," McCarthy said. "But it's like anything. There may be potentially a setback or something. That's why we limited him today at practice."

Rodgers said he didn't regret reporting the injury.

"With any other injury, there's definitely that temptation to be your own evaluator and to be very optimistic," Rodgers said. "But when it comes to your head, I think you can't be too careful. That's something I definitely thought about on Sunday, and something from here on that's going to be on my mind.

"Head injuries are different than the standard extremity injury, because you're talking about the rest of your life and being able to function and have normal brain activity is more important than risking having a setback because you come back too early."

For all his accomplishments in two-plus years as an NFL starting quarterback, Rodgers is perhaps most proud of the fact that he hasn't missed a game.

While he'll have to play a lot longer to match the consecutive-starts streak of his predecessor in Green Bay, Brett Favre, Rodgers clearly doesn't want to sit out Sunday. That said, Rodgers understands that pushing himself to return quickly from a head injury wouldn't be the same as toughing out a painful shoulder injury, as he did in 2008.

"When I started to really look into more information about this, that's when the severity of this injury hit me," Rodgers said. "And I realized, 'You know what, I'd love to be out there on Sunday for my guys, but I have to get cleared. And this has to be a process where I'm completely honest with our medical staff and they're honest with their assessment of how they feel I'm reacting and improving or not improving.'"

As the Packers' representative to the NFL Players Association, Rodgers said the treatment of head injuries for current and former players is a critical issue that deserves more attention.

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"That's something that I'm going to have to do a little more research on," Rodgers said. "But I think it's important that we at some point address the issue that we have with some of the former players and their injuries."

Donald Lee, who sustained a chest injury early in last Sunday's game and left for good after catching a touchdown pass, also practiced Thursday, and McCarthy said he was optimistic the tight end would play against the Dolphins.

Two players who practiced Wednesday didn't participate Thursday -- defensive lineman Mike Neal and linebacker Brandon Chillar. Linebacker Clay Matthews and right tackle Mark Tauscher also didn't practice.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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