Packers Rumors: Tony Romo breaks down Green Bay's transition to Jordan Love
If there's one thing that Tony Romo knows about (other than yelling Jim Nantz's name at an octave few people on the planet can reach), it's about making way for a new franchise quarterback.
During his career with the Dallas Cowboys, Romo replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe and then never looked back as the starting quarterback. He was then on the other side of that when he was injured in preseason action, paving the way for then-rookie Dak Prescott to take over and also not look back. So when it comes to the Green Bay Packers transitioning from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, he knows a thing or two about that.
Romo was golfing in Wisconsin recently and was asked about what to expect from Love and the Packers as they make this massive change at quarterback by Lance Allan of TMJ4 in Milwaukee. Though he didn't answer the question directly, he did drop some major hints talking about the transition from Brett Favre to Rodgers.
"I think Aaron learned more than people realized from Favre," Romo said. "And when I say that? I mean from his mechanics. If you ever watched Aaron coming out of college? You know, Aaron came in from Cal and he had the ball up here. And you know, he was what I call just an up-and-down thrower a little bit. And then you saw Favre rotational, boom moving back. And then as you saw Aaron come into year 3, 4, 5? He started to switch and started to get just, choo!"
Other than trying to figure out what "choo!" is, there are some implications here.
Like Rodgers, Love sat for several seasons learning behind a future Hall of Fame starter. That can be exceptionally valuable, as Romo noted, and we could see the results mirror that with Love, especially as he gets more experience leading the offense.
So while it might not have been a direct endorsement of Love from Romo, it definitely points to him being optimistic about the new Packers franchise quarterback.
Packers Rumors: Alex McGough looking well out of QB competition
As Packers training camp first got underway, there were three quarterbacks on the roster. Jordan Love was the obvious one, but also veteran backup Danny Etling, rookie fifth-rounder Sean Clifford out of Penn State, and a late-offseason signing, reigning USFL MVP Alex McGough.
Etling was cut not too long after camp began, though, leaving fans in Green Bay wondering how the depth chart would shake out behind Love. Would it be the former seventh-round pick with ample experience (and success) in the USFL or a rookie who many believed was overdrafted by the franchise given his raw talent as a passer.
Somehow, it seems like the latter, at least based on the first preseason game.
Freddie Boston of Lombardi Ave. broke down a number of Packers players whose stock is falling and listed McGough as the top option, highlighting the preseason outing in particularly. The former USFL star only dropped back for one pass, which resulted in a sack-fumble. Meanwhile, Clifford played almost the entirety of the game after Love opened the contest.
Now, could this be a case of wanting to see the rookie with no experience and how he performed? Absolutely. But it doesn't help McGough's case that Clifford, despite two turnovers, at least one of which might've been on Tucker Kraft not hauling in a pass he should've caught, performed quite well.
We'll certainly get more clarity as we get closer to Week 1, but it's starting to look more like the Packers will roll with Love and Clifford — and the McGough will be left out in the cold.
Packers Rumors: Justin Jefferson reignites rivalry with Jaire Alexander
Whenever you have two players at the top of their respective positions matching up in the division on separate sides of the ball, there is always bound to be a bit of bad blood. Between Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander and Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson, though, it's really starting to boil over, even more so than last season.
For those unaware, Jefferson torched Green Bay in the first meeting between the NFC North rivals, catching nine balls for a ridiculous 184 yards and two touchdowns. In the second meeting, though, the Packers put the clamps on Jefferson to the tune of one catch for six yards — complete with a bit of taunting from Alexander (spiritually, not in the penalized sense). Alexander went on to call the first game from Jefferson a "fluke".
That could've been the end of it to a degree, but Jefferson was recently interviewed by Zach Aldridge of CBS Sports and addressed the situation, indicating that the only fluke was getting shut down like that as the Packers changed their entire defensive approach (h/t Bring Me the Sports)
"It's just him talking," Jefferson said. "Nobody's really worried about him. They had their intentions to really take me out of the game. Everything about that day was to take me out the game, to not let me touch the ball, to do things to really take me out my game. At that point in the season we already had solidified in the playoffs, we had already won the division. I didn't even play the whole game. But you can't call a 180-yarder a fluke, that's something that's not a fluke. You just can't walk up on 180 yards in the NFL, especially being one of the top players. They played totally different the second time. They did not even play man the second time at all. So that statement of him playing man and beating me up all game is very not true and if you see the film you can see it."
Now, not only is Jefferson addressing that Green Bay changed its gameplan, but also claiming that Alexander didn't shut him down singlehandedly as the Packers didn't man-up on the Vikings star.
Suffice it to say, there might be some words and perhaps some physicality exchanged when these two meet up again to continue the burgeoning rivalry. The two teams meet for the first time in Week 8 on Sunday, Oct. 29.
