Green Bay, Wis. – Dontayvion Wicks can’t say for sure how intimidated he would have felt on the first day on the job as a junior receiver for the Green Bay Packers if Aaron Rodgers was still the starting quarterback.
He just knows it was going to add some anxiety.
“I would probably say so,” Weeks admitted after the first OTA Open practice this week.
Christian Watson certainly felt that when he arrived last year as a junior.
“It was kind of weird to see him here casually, but obviously it’s something I’ve got to get used to,” Watson said last June after his first training session with Rodgers. “I mean, it’s still crazy to be here and play with him.”
Romeo Dobbs felt the same way as a freshman last year, saying, “I mean, I grew up watching him play receivers like Donald Driver, the list goes on. So again, it’s pretty shocking to me.”
Same for Samori Tori, the third member of last year’s rookie trio, who said after those first practices with Rodgers: “Sometimes I find myself looking at practice and seeing him throw the ball and thinking, ‘Man, that’s A-Rod.'” “
While Doubs and Watson have had productive stretches as starters, thanks in large part to Rodgers, coaching without a future Hall of Famer is less of a concern for Wicks, fellow rookie receivers Jayden Reed and Grant DuBose, and rookie tight ends Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft to stress it out.
And it might be easier for them to integrate into the Packers offense with Jordan Love as a starter. Not that they shouldn’t strive to be perfect at every move, but they wouldn’t have a four-time MVP with a reputation for being tough on rookie receivers watching their every move.
“Having Jordan Love, being a guy, I can relate to him more and be able to have the same feeling and talk with him,” said Weeks, a fifth-round pick from Virginia. “We sat at a table and talked and ate things like that. It’s just building that bond with him, being so young. We’re going to grow together.”
Second-place finisher Reed said he already feels “very comfortable” with Love and added, “I can go up to it, and it will come to me sometimes. I think it’s mutual at this point.”
Surely no one says love will ever be better than Rodgers from the start. But the transition from college to the NFL may be easier for younger players.
“It makes a lot of sense,” Dobbs said this week. “I won’t just say [being comfortable] With Jordan, but I would also say to a lot of the guys on offense who have questions to make sure they understand everything. I think this plays a big role. I’m excited about what this year holds for us.”
The first glimpse of the Packers’ new-look offense came on Tuesday, when the team opened up an OTA practice to the media. Late in the session, there was the sort of sequence that probably drove Rodgers crazy:
First, Musgrave allowed linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to cut through, and he almost picked it off.
Then, Dobbs slid, and when he got his feet back under him, dropped the ball.
Finally, Toure ran a way out, but the ball was just out of reach.
Love did not frown at Musgrave. He didn’t bark at Dobbs. He did not raise his hands in frustration after the ball went over Toure’s head.
Perhaps if this had happened at a training camp in August, Loew would have reacted differently. Perhaps he would have joined the group as Rodgers did last summer with his young receivers.
“It’s not kind of like I was back in the day,” Love said. “But I think there are a lot of great things [to learn from Rodgers]. Like you just see how much he’s asking people and, like, the urgency with which he expects things to be because we’ve got to build this thing quickly. When young people come along, we have to have this urgency to be on the same page.”
However, love has its presence, according to those in the boardrooms.
“I’ve never seen anyone who made me feel the way I do in Rome [Doubs] He did that to Aaron right away, but I’m not saying they don’t think, “Hey, this is an NFL quarterback who starts a lot and demands a lot,” said Packers receivers coach/pass game coordinator Jason Fabel.
“When he’s talking, there’s usually a difference between Jordan talking and someone else. They usually animate and take notes on it. If Jordan says a note in the meeting about what he wants it to sound like, everyone turns around like, ‘Okay, get it.'” So I think that Jordan is the one who orders it and knows what he wants in our system. I think it would probably be easier, but maybe that’s a question for them.”
Younger players will naturally find it easier to bond over love. The 39-year-old Rodgers has been drawn to the likes of David Bakhtiari (31), Randall Cobb (32) and Marsdis Lewis (39).
Dobbs said in January, during an appearance on the “Maggie & Perloff” podcast, that he never hung out with Rodgers away from the team’s headquarters. He said matter-of-factly, but it annoyed some. It even prompted a response from Rodgers on “The Pat McAfee Show,” where Rodgers said, among other things, “There are two types of leaders: There are leaders who want to be loved first and foremost, and respected second. And there are leaders who want to be respected first and foremost.” Everything, they love secondly.”
Rodgers’ leadership style has evolved over his career, and Love’s will, too. But for now, Love, 24, is at least from the same generation as most of the Packers’ current skill position players.
“I think it’s easier, too, than a younger guy,” Love said. “I think they could relate to me a little bit better, but I try to be open with all these guys – talk to them and just tell them if there’s anything they need, ask me. I’m an open book. I try to let everyone know I’m an open book. Come ask me, come And talk to me. I’m trying to build that chemistry with all of them.”