Pack won’t alter plan
When the Packers begin training camp next month, it won’t matter whether Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love is playing quarterback. The team will have one approach.
“We’ll have one plan,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Thursday in his last scheduled news conference before camp. “We’ve kind of pretty much laid that out. Just going to finetune some things over the next few weeks in terms of the logistics of our schedule and whatnot. We’ve got what we feel is a pretty good blueprint in terms of how to get our guys ready to play.
“Obviously, it is a little bit different this year in terms of the number of preseason games, and then you compare it to last year, so you’re kind of leaning back on the 2019 season. We feel confident with what we’ll have in place with the guys. We’ll look forward to getting them back July 27.”
The Packers don’t know if Rodgers will end his holdout and return to the team after an offseason in which he has stayed away from all team activities.
Rodgers hasn’t denied any of the reports, which began with ESPN’s Adam Schefter saying in April that Rodgers is so disenfranchised that he doesn’t want to play for the Packers again. His only public comments indicated his beef is with management.
Meanwhile, LaFleur dedicated the offseason to Love, who took the majority of the snaps in offseason training activities and last week at minicamp.
Reid takes high road with Bell
Chiefs coach Andy Reid declined to get in a war of words with running back Le’Veon Bell, saying, “I’m pulling for him in the future.”
“I really enjoyed my time with him here,” Reid said as the Chiefs concluded their offseason practices. “I appreciated the way he handled things and did his business. He had some productive downs for us. But I’m pulling for him in the future. That’s how I roll. People say things. They say stuff. I move on and wish him the best.”
Bell, who joined the Chiefs during last season but played little, recently wrote on Instagram that he would retire before playing for Reid again. He later explained on Twitter that his feelings stemmed from a comment Reid made to him, though he didn’t elaborate.
Bell, who’s a free agent, played in nine games with the Chiefs, starting two, and rushed for 254 yards and two touchdowns on 63 carries.
Brady, Mahomes on Madden 22 cover
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes are sharing the cover of the EA Sports video game Madden 22. It’s the first time two players are on the game’s front since Larry Fitzgerald and Troy Polamalu in Madden 10. Mahomes was first on the cover of Madden 20. Brady’s first cover — despite all his years as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL — came in Madden 18.