The Packers got an addition to their quarterback meeting room Tuesday, but it wasn’t a trade acquisition.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was back at Lambeau Field for the first time since his collarbone surgery. But a big part of his job lately is to tutor placeholder Brett Hundley, so that there might be something for him to come back to later this year. Rodgers wasn’t on hand for Hundley’s first start last week, but he’s expected to remain nearby while he rehabs.
“When he walks in the room, he has great presence, so it’s great to have him back,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “I think really him stepping away and being out of town, I think, really helped him deal with his situation. But he’s Aaron . . . he feels good about the way things are going so far. I got a full, detailed look at everything with him and [team physician] Dr. McKenzie this morning. Yeah, it’s great having him back in the building.”
Hundley wasn’t going to make anyone forget about Rodgers last week, but with the bye week he has some extra time to work, and with Rodgers at his side, he can learn some new things.
“He plays the game at a different level, a different pace,” McCarthy said of Rodgers. “The biggest thing he can get to Brett is just to play a little faster. We’re not going to try to win the volume game, that’s for sure. That’s something as a football team we need to do a better job of. We need to play faster, both offense and defense. So Aaron can assist in that.
“Just in the meeting today, there’s always a suggestion or a moment you’re watching the tape and going through the Lions defense, their two-minute drills for the year, spend more time on that with the extra time. He’s played a number of games against those guys, so he understands the history of their defense. And history is good to point to when you have a little more extra time like we do today, but the fact of the matter is we’ve got to get dialed into it in game plan, and that process is the same for Aaron that it is for any quarterback. He’ll definitely help Brett with that.”
It’s also a gracious thing for Rodgers to do, since he couldn’t always count on having a Brett helping him learn the position in his early years.