The Green Bay Packers have fallen on hard times this season, in no small part due to their struggles under center.
Aaron Rodgers, a four-time MVP who had been Green Bay’s starter for 15 years, has moved on to the not-so-greener pastures of the New York Jets. In his place came in 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love, who has shown some flashes but has struggled overall. The Packers themselves have reflected those struggles, sitting at 2-5 with four straight losses.
While the loss of Rodgers hurts for the Packers, their opponents are more than happy to not face the future Hall of Fame quarterback. Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald expressed his relief ahead of Sunday’s road game against the Packers.
“I’m kind of happy we don’t get to see Aaron Rodgers, so I don’t really care,” Donald told reporters. “Obviously, they got the young quarterback back there, so we just got to try to do our job to make our plays. But it feels pretty good not seeing him back there.”
Rodgers is probably happy to not face Donald as well, considering how much of a menace the three-time Defensive Player of the Year is for opposing offenses.
“What he did on defense, just impacting the game, I’ve never seen a player impact the game like that until Aaron Donald. Literally your entire game plan is stopping him,” Rodgers said in 2019. “That’s all you think about. Where’s 99 going? Are we sliding to him? Are we inserting? We gotta slow him down.”
Rodgers’ arrival in New York was arguably the biggest story of the offseason, but unfortunately, he suffered a torn Achilles on his first drive with the Jets. He is pushing to return this season, though.
Love, who turned 25 on Thursday, has completed 57.7 percent of his passes for 1,492 yards, 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season. He started the season off well, but his play has declined during the Packers’ four-game losing streak. To be fair, though, plenty of other players have also underperformed during said streak.
The Rams are three-point underdogs for Sunday’s game in Green Bay, but Donald will have something to say about that as he tries to make Love’s life miserable.
