Aaron Rodgers holds his teammates accountable
Rookie or not, mistakes happen in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers, the oldest Packers player on the roster, knows that better than anyone else in pads for Green Bay. Rodgers made a mistake of his own early in Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots. He threw a pick-six to rookie Jack Jones. Rodgers took accountability for the errant throw after the game.
Rodgers also wants his teammates to take responsibility for their mistakes. One Packers rookie made a few glaring mistakes in Week 4. Late in the fourth quarter, the Packers and Patriots were tied 24-24. Rodgers threw a decent enough pass to a wide-open Romeo Doubs for a would-be touchdown that could have won the game. Doubs took the ball to the ground but couldn’t come up with it to complete the catch. He also had a fumble in the first quarter that was punched out by Jones.
A Reporter asked Rodgers if the good Doubs brings to the offense outweighs plays like the fumble in the first quarter. Rodgers said that Doubs needs to work on going down in that situation to keep the ball safe. He then gave a telling answer about the faith he has in Doubs.
“Look, Romeo is growing. He’s making some plays,” Rodgers said. “I hit him twice on the last drive, so obviously, I have confidence in him.”
“Went to him on the key third down with two minutes left in the game, so I’m not going to lose confidence in him, we’ll hold him accountable, but he’s a great kid. I threw a third-down, back-shoulder fade to him for a touchdown. I’d say I’ve got some confidence in him,” Rodgers said with a grin.
Doubs has some learning to do
Doubs has had an impressive start to his NFL career. The fourth-round pick is chasing rookie records and scoring touchdowns in an offense that needs a wide receiver to step up. Doubs must ensure his hands catch balls and hold on to the completions. But these mistakes happen. He’ll need to learn to move on and have better games.
For the most part, Doubs did Sunday. He went on to catch a touchdown pass. Unfortunately, Doubs couldn’t come up with his second of the day, which is probably why the question was still on the reporter’s mind during the press conference.