After Aaron Rodgers’ Week 1 performance – where he completed just 15 of 28 passes, threw two interceptions and zero touchdowns and ended with a 36.8 passer rating – former NFL quarterback Carson Palmer said the Green Bay Packers star “looked like he had cement boots on at times.”
In his Monday appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” Palmer said that Rodgers never looked comfortable at any point throughout the game, missing the usual throws that propelled the reigning NFL MVP’s career to this point. The Packers fell 38-3 to the Saints and mustered 229 yards of total offense, while Rodgers finished with his lowest passer rating since an Oct. 2020 loss to Tampa Bay (35.4).
“Everything looked challenging, everything looked different,” Palmer said.
Part of that, he continued, could be attributed to Rodgers’ offseason. It started after Green Bay’s NFC Championship loss, when Rodgers said that “a lot of guy’s futures are uncertain, myself included.” Then, ESPN reported in April that Rodgers told some members of the Packers organization that he didn’t want to return — mulling over retirement and potential trade demands.
That led to a restructured contract at the end of July, voiding the final year of his contract in 2023 and providing more flexibility for both sides. But that turmoil is something that both teammates and Rodgers are burdened with during media sessions and after the embarrassing season-opening loss heading into Week 2, Palmer said.
Aaron Rodgers during the Packers’ loss to the Saints.Getty ImagesHe contrasted the Green Bay situation to a similar one that the Seattle Seahawks briefly encountered this offseason with Russell Wilson, when Wilson vented his frustrations over the plethora of quarterback hits in a February interview. Trade rumors followed, but that ended after a month, he said, and “Russ looked happy.”
“Russ looked like he was having fun, and then it’s the polar opposite for watching Green Bay,” Palmer said. “Aaron Rodgers looked miserable and uncomfortable all day.”
Palmer is no stranger to offseason drama, temporarily retiring after the 2010 season and eventually forcing the Bengals to trade him to the Raiders after they drafted Andy Dalton.
The Saints intercepted Rodgers on back-to-back possessions in the second half, taking a double-digit lead and capitalizing on the extra possessions. As Green Bay drove inside the New Orleans 10-yard line, with the third quarter nearing the nine-minute mark, Rodgers’ short pass for Davante Adams cutting across the middle was picked off. The Saints scored on the ensuing drive to make it 24-7.
And Rodgers’ second interception came with the Packers backed up inside their own 10-yard line, when he stepped up into the pocket and launched a deep throw down the middle of the field — a pass intended for Marquez Valdes-Scantling that instead landed in the hands of New Orleans defensive back Marcus Williams.
The Packers inserted backup quarterback Jordan Love for their drive that started with 10:46 left in the fourth quarter, and the second-year quarterback finished 5-of-7 for 68 yards.
“We played bad, I played bad and uncharacteristic of how we’ve practiced in training camp, obviously how I’ve played over the years,” Rodgers said postgame. “So this is hopefully an outlier moving forward. We’ll find out next week.”
