Rodgers speaks at Packers camp
Aaron Rodgers has returned from a tumultuous offseason of uncertainty eager to get the Packers to the Super Bowl after falling a step short the last two years.
Nobody’s making any promises regarding the 37-year-old quarterback’s future beyond 2021.
The reigning MVP participated in the Packers’ first training-camp workout Wednesday, Then he made it clear in a news conference that some of the issues that caused him to skip the team’s organized team activities and mandatory minicamp remain unresolved.
Does he expect to be back with the Packers next season?
“I really don’t know,” said Rodgers, who admitted he mulled retirement. “I think I’m just going to focus on this year.”
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst offered a similar response. Both the quarterback and the general manager described their relationship as “professional.”
QB Lamar Jackson tested positive for COVID-19 and missed the Ravens’ first practice of training camp. Coach John Harbaugh announced Jackson’s positive test after practice and said RB Gus Edwards also tested positive . ... Niners QB Trey Lance signed his rookie contract ahead of the team’s first practice of camp. Selected No. 3 overall in the draft, Lance will receive a fully guaranteed four-year, $34.1 million deal. The Niners have the option to add a fifth year, as teams do with all first-rounders . ... QB Deshaun Watson was on the field for the start of training camp with the Texans. Watson still wishes to be traded and reported to training camp solely to avoid being fined . ... Colts RT Braden Smith signed a four-year, $72.4 million extension.
College football: Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby accused ESPN of pushing other conferences to pick apart the league so Texas and Oklahoma can move to the SEC without paying a massive buyout. “I have absolute certainty they (ESPN) have been involved in manipulating other conferences to go after our members,” Big 12 Commissioner Bowlsby told AP in a phone interview after sending a cease-and-desist letter to the network . ... Former USC RB Reggie Bush isn’t likely to see his 2005 Heisman Trophy returned anytime soon. The NCAA provided the latest stiff-arm in Bush’s effort to reclaim the coveted trophy, declaring that it would not reconsider past NCAA penalties, even in the wake of landmark changes to name, image and likeness (NIL) rules across college sports.
NBA: The league’s play-in tournament is back for at least one more season. The format will be the same as it was this past season: the teams that finish seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th in each conference will play to determine the No. 7 and No. 8 playoff seeds.
NHL: The expansion Kraken made one of the biggest splashes in free agency by signing G Philipp Grubauer to a six-year $35.4 million contract . ... The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning lost F Blake Coleman, who signed a six-year, $29.4 million deal with the Flames, and D David Savard, who signed a four-year, $14 million contract with the Canadiens . ... The Stars signed D Ryan Suter to a four-year, $14.6 million deal and G Braden Holtby for $2 million for next season after he was bought out by the Canucks . ... C Ryan Getzlaf signed a one-year contract to remain with the Ducks . ... Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was named U.S. men’s coach for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.