Aaron Rodgers’ patience with the Green Bay Packers’ young receivers appears to have reached its limit.
For the first time since losing Davante Adams in the offseason, Rodgers expressed frustration.
“The young guys, especially the young receivers, have to be a lot more consistent. There are a lot of loose balls and a lot of bad decisions on routes. You have to be better,” the veteran quarterback said Tuesday.
His frustration isn’t directed at Allen Lazard, whom Rodgers believes is No. 1. Nor at Randall Cobb, whom he considers the crème de la crème of his position. Nor do new free agent acquisition Sammy Watkins, who had his best day of practice according to Rodgers.
His tolerance for others, however, seems to have evaporated after Tuesday’s joint practice with the New Orleans Saints, which resulted in several penalties and during which rookie Romeo Doubs dropped a ball on what Rodgers rates as his best throw of the day. The mistakes also resulted in three Jordan Love interceptions in Friday’s preseason opener at San Francisco. Instead of blaming Love, however, Aaron Rodgers took aim at Tyler Davis, Doubs, and Amari Rodgers for a loose ball and bad runs.
“The real season is coming up. We’ll put our best elements in play when the season starts. And whoever it is, I have to be able to trust them, the coaches have to trust them. You have to be responsible on offense, be in your position, be in the right place, and stay on the right course. ”
Doubs had some tough catches in practice and also had a 33-yard touchdown against the 49ers, but the fourth-round pick also had plenty of loose balls, including two in Game 1. The ball once again slipped through his hands Tuesday after he quickly beat Saints corner, Bradley Roby, along the line.
“The offense is running quietly,” Lazard said. We had a lot of false starts, missed signals, and that sort of thing today, and it’s not at the level we’re used to. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but overall I think we did well. ”
Rodgers could get reinforcements with the arrival of Christian Watson, the highest drafted wide receiver (34 overall) in the last 20 years with the Packers. He has yet to participate in a full 11-on-11 practice but was off the injured list Sunday after undergoing knee surgery.
