Aaron Rodgers received a raucous ovation from the crowd as he entered the field for Sunday’s home game against Seattle. For Rodgers, it was a return to normalcy following a bout with COVID-19 that left him in quarantine and away from the Packers‘ facility for nearly two weeks. Along with battling the virus, Rodgers also received heavy criticism for not adhering to each of the NFL‘s protocols for unvaccinated players.
Rodgers admitted that he had “a lot of emotions” upon taking the field prior to Green Bay’s 17-0 win over Seattle, a win that moved the Packers to 8-2 and into first place in the race to claim the NFC’s lone playoff bye. Rodgers said that he was “a little misty” upon leaving the field with his teammates.
“It was good to feel those types of emotions and good to be back with the guys,” Rodgers said, via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “I just don’t take these things for granted, walking off the field as a winner. It’s fun beating that squad. We’ve had some battles over the years. Just walking out with Preston [Smith], who I have so much love and appreciation for, and then hearing that type of response from the crowd — it was a little extra special today.”
Rodgers looked largely like his usual self during Sunday’s win over the Seahawks. He went 23 of 37 for 292 yards while leading a Packers’ offense that had to finish the game without running back Aaron Jones, who was sidelined with a knee injury. Despite Jones’ absence, the Packers turned a 3-0 lead into a 17-point victory with two fourth quarter scoring drives. Rodgers was a combined 5 of 7 passing on Green Bay’s final two scoring drives. The big play was a 50-yard completion to running back AJ Dillon, who scored both of the Packers’ touchdowns while tallying 128 all-purpose yards.
Green Bay’s offense took a backseat to a defense that handed Russell Wilson his first shutout as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback. The Packers’ defense sacked Wilson three times, intercepted him twice while holding Seattle’s offense to just 208 total yards.
“That was championship-level defense, for sure,” Rodgers said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “I mean, the last three games, playing against three stud quarterbacks, holding Arizona to 21, Pat and the Chiefs to 13 and then shutting out Russell and the Seahawks tonight, it’s an amazing three-game stretch. So I’m really, really happy for Joe and his staff. He’s got a great staff, they do a great job and there (are) guys within that scheme who are glue who’ve been really, really important to the success.”
While the last two weeks magnified the focus on Rodgers, the three-time league MVP has been under the microscope for most of the past calendar year. Rodgers’ future has been an ongoing topic, and it probably remain in the news cycle until Rodgers and the Packers’ brass confirm whether or not Rodgers will return to the team for the 2022 season. But on Sunday, Rodgers was just happy to be back on the field with his teammates. He was also happy to help get the Packers one game closer to their goal of getting the coveted playoff bye as well as home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“I’m happy; I’m just so tired,” Rodgers said. “It’s been a long, long 10 days … I felt great on the field, but it’s been a couple weeks since I’ve been out there playing. So it was fun to be back out there and I’m excited for our guys, I really am.”
