GREEN BAY – Several NFL quarterbacks have made headlines in recent weeks amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
From Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill testing positive after reluctantly getting vaccinated because of the league’s restrictive rules for unvaccinated players; to New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton returning to practice after time on the COVID-19 reserve list while the team is reportedly frustrated with his unwillingness to be vaccinated; to Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who blamed the arrangement in the team’s quarterback room for him being deemed a close contact early in camp.
But Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Thursday that he has been vaccinated – the first time he’s spoken publicly about his vaccination status – and he hopes he won’t join those other quarterbacks in missing time because of the coronavirus.
“Yeah, I’ve been immunized,” Rodgers replied to a direct question about being vaccinated. (He did not say when he got the vaccine.) “There’s a lot of conversation around it, around the league, and a lot of guys who have made statements and not made statements, owners who have made statements. There’s guys on the team that haven’t been vaccinated. I think it’s a personal decision. I’m not going to judge those guys.
“It’s an interesting issue that I think we’re going to see played out the entire season.”
Rodgers said he did extensive reading on his own about the vaccine before getting it, and that he understood the competitive disadvantage the Packers could be at if he ended up on the COVID-19/reserve list. He said he didn’t get the vaccine to set an example for his reluctant teammates.
“I like to learn about everything that I’m doing, and there was a lot of research that even went into that,” Rodgers said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how things work moving forward. Obviously, there could be some issues with vaccinated people only testing every couple weeks, and then non-vaccinated testing every day. I think this is going to continue to evolve as we get into the season.”
Love story
No. 2 quarterback Jordan Love showed no ill effects from his first full-fledged practice on Wednesday and was able to once again take part in practice on Thursday. Barring a setback, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Love will see extensive playing time at Buffalo in Saturday’s preseason finale, although No. 3 quarterback Kurt Benkert will play, too.
“I thought he looked good. He said there’s no pain, so we’ll let it go through the week and we’ll see,” LaFleur said. “If Jordan plays, we’re most likely looking at probably a half, maybe somewhat into the third quarter.”
The Packers went into camp and preseason games wanting Love, who suffered a right/throwing shoulder injury just before halftime of the preseason opener against Houston on Aug. 14 and missed last week’s game against the New York Jets, to get as much work as possible. Rodgers said he believes the two joint practices Love missed against the Jets was a bigger loss to his young backup than the game time he missed.
“I think what hurt him more was maybe missing those two days because (Jets head coach Robert) Saleh threw a lot of things at us. That, to me, is more important than the game,” Rodgers said. “Now, the first week, the Texans didn’t play a whole lot on defense; they played some very vanilla coverages. It would’ve been better against the Jets. Buffalo, I heard starters are going to play, so if he’s able to play, which I think he’s going to, this will be great for him.”
Extra points
Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst was in attendance at practice, alongside Packers GM Brian Gutekunst. … LaFleur said he hasn’t decided yet on who will call the offensive plays against the Bills. He may start before passing the job off. … LaFleur listed three players who are still in the mix for the starting guard jobs: Lucas Patrick, Royce Newman and Jon Runyan. It was Patrick at left guard and Newman at right guard with the starters Thursday. … Former University of Wisconsin lineman Cole Van Lanen worked with the No. 2 line at right guard. … Veteran wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, who is competing for the No. 6 receiver spot, was back on the sideline with an apparent injury. Asked about the receiver competition before practice, LaFleur said the coaches “have a lot confidence in just that whole room in general. But that last spot, if we do choose to keep six, it’s going to be a fight right down to the finish.” … Out of the mix, of course, is veteran Devin Funchess, who was placed on season-ending injured reserve Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate for Devin,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, he showed his talent and we appreciate everything he did.”
