NO GREEN BAY SLACKER
No matter the circumstances, Rodgers is always a fearsome foe
Asked about the new attitude after a dominant victory Sunday against the Falcons, Rodgers said, ‘‘We had a really good week of practice. Now I know sometimes that gets thrown around in situations like this where it’s trying to galvanize a sort of false confidence. But in actuality, it was probably our cleanest, fastest, most efficient week of practice this season.’’
In other words, new coach Joe Philbin has helped players forget the reign of longtime coach Mike McCarthy. This could be a revitalized Packers team.
Rodgers himself feels reinvigorated and selfless.
‘‘I was just trying to have fun out there,’’ he said after the Packers’ 34-20 victory against Atlanta. ‘‘The guys knew basically by the way I was playing that I was willing to put my body on the line and take a couple of shots. I’ve got a little bit of a sore back.’’
Indeed, Rodgers rushed for 44 yards, the most he has gained on the ground this year. A sore back might be raw meat for the Bears’ defense, the guys who attacked Rams quarterback Jared Goff like jackals in Sunday’s 15-6 win at Soldier Field.
Dominant Bears defensive lineman Akiem Hicks has even tried to use as bulletin-board fodder part of Rodgers’ hardly inflammatory synopsis of what the Packers had to achieve to get to the postseason.
They needed to win on the road, get some luck from other teams and, along the way, ‘‘go to Chicago, a place we’ve won a number of times, beat them,’’ etc.
Inflammatory? Hardly.
True? Absolutely.
Rodgers is 7-2 in Chicago.
Oh, and did we mention that Rodgers has the NFL record for most consecutive passes — 368 — without an interception? He has a total of one this year. Even in a lousy season, the guy is uncanny. And unflappable.
‘‘You need a little bit of good fortune when you get a streak like that,’’ he tossed off dismissively when questioned about the accuracy mark.
Right.
So the Bears’ defense will tee off on him. As it always does. And maybe this time with Hicks, Khalil Mack and those aggressive defensive backs, the Bears can make Rodgers look normal, make him look old and over the hill, even.
It could happen. By all rights, it should happen. Except for the fact that Rodgers is a genius in his chemistry lab.
‘‘Most people might have expected us to throw in the towel,’’ he said of the turbulence and losing that led into the Falcons game. ‘‘Guys didn’t.’’
Nor has he.
And he’s comin’ to town.