After a blowout loss to open the season last week against the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers quarterback said there was no reason to freak out about the performance and it was only one game.
That opinion was certainly not universally shared as the Packers are expected to be a Super Bowl contender and got routed in their first contest of the season.
But the Packers got back in the win column on Monday night with a 35-17 home opening win over the Detroit Lions that saw Rodgers throw four touchdowns passes on the night. It was game that seemed very much back to normal for Green Bay.
While many athletes will claim they don’t read or don’t hear what is being said about them by the media or general public, Rodgers indicated he was quite acutely aware of some of the things said about his team this week.
“I think we maybe tried to show that we cared a little bit more tonight,” Rodgers told reporters after the game, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post.
It was fairly obvious the comment was in reference to something and Rodgers was asked what he meant by it.
“I just think people like to say a lot of bulls—, and it’s nice to come back in here after a game like that,” he said.
Rodgers completed 22 of 27 passes for 255 yards with three touchdowns to Aaron Jones and a fourth to Robert Tonyan. Rodgers was glad that — for a week at least — the sky is no longer falling around Green Bay.
“I think that there’s even more now than when I started playing. There’s so many overreactions that happen on a week-to-week basis,” Rodgers said. “So it’s nice to come out, have a good performance and get the trolls off our back for at least a week.”