NFL International Series Giants vs Packers

Sunday, 9 October 2022

Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers

Postgame Press Conference


New York Giants 27

Green Bay Packers 22

Q. What could you have done?

AARON RODGERS: Could have started a little faster. I think I missed Romes in the first drive for a big one. Yeah, then we had some opportunities in the second half.

Probably could have chosen Cobby there on the last play and had a higher-percentage throw.

Q. The trend of having one good half, one bad half continued today. Did they change anything defensively that gave you problems?

AARON RODGERS: No, not really. Maybe just a couple more plays of pressure. Those two drives hurt us. We had a decent drive to get down there, first drive of the second half, then a sack on third down. Then three-and-out with two opportunities to make plays on the next drive. By the time we knew it, we were down 7.

Q. Can you run through the last two plays, what you saw.

AARON RODGERS: Yeah, I mean, I liked the calls. We had Cobby on the left side. I was trying to fit it through kind of the sea of arms there. Felt like we might have had a chance on the in-breaker.

Then fourth down was trying to throw kind of a big body ball to Allen. Maybe should have adjusted A.J. to block that guy off the edge.

Like I said, probably could have thrown the ball to Cobby on the left sideline.

Q. The one that you just mentioned, were you trying to get back into the game right away in the sense of just watch your defense, eight minutes on the field, give up a touchdown, are you just trying to create something in there?

AARON RODGERS: I felt like we had three good calls. We had a call we hit early in the game for eight yards. Came back to it. I made a subtle adjustment.

I'm not sure what happened outside, if Rome went a little bit too deep or he just turned his guy around, ran into Allen. We were going to have a good shot to Allen there down the sidelines.

Second down, a play that we hit earlier in the game as well that we liked. Had a chance. The ball was a little bit high to Cobby. Third down, another play that we like. Probably a more catchable ball would have been a couple yards short on that one.

But I liked those three calls. I feel good about all those. We got to hit one of those to give our defense a little more rest, turn the tide back in our favor.

Q. What's missing?

AARON RODGERS: Yeah, I don't know. We're just not quite on the same page at times. I don't know. We got to go back and look at it. I don't want to make a blanket statement right now. Definitely not an emotional blanket statement (smiling).

I'll withhold that and maybe talk about it on Wednesday a little bit if you get back and get some sleep, remember that question.

Q. Jaire was saying he is not concerned about the defense yet, but he will be if you lose next week. Are you concerned about the offense yet?

AARON RODGERS: No.

Q. Why not?

AARON RODGERS: Frankly, I don't like all this conversation about losing next week. I'm a firm believer in the power of words and manifestation. We got to check ourselves on that. Talking about that, that's not winning football.

There was conversation about it in the locker room and I don't like it. He is my guy, but we don't need to be talking like that.

I understand there's a reality in this game, a win and loss every single game. There's also a reality in life that what you put your energy towards, that's where your focus is going to go.

I'm not going to address prospects of losing up here, other than we just lost this game. Offensively we haven't put two halves together. There's a lot that factors into that, everything from calls to execution, to the momentum, to defensive stops, to adjustments that we make that are good or shouldn't make. It's a lot of execution.

There's games like this where the defense is not going to be up to their normal standards, and we got to pick 'em up. We had chances, a lot of chances. Definitely the offense, this one will weigh heavy on us on this flight back.

Q. The three-and-out in the second half, you really liked all those plays, but considering where you guys are this year, is that still the right way to go or do you need to back off on that because it's less of your identity this season?

AARON RODGERS: Yeah, I mean, I understand where you're going. I can't say that I love that line of questioning, but you make a good point.

I think it's something to think about. Again, I'm not making those calls. I do like all three of those calls 100%. And I felt like we were really close to executing.

The difference between a ball that's high and a ball that's on Cobby is the difference between a three-and-out and, who knows, being up here and answering that question. That's the beauty in this game, is that it comes down to some very small dimensions between winning and losing.

But it's a valid point you make. We get a call, we try and execute it. There was at least two opportunities to get first downs there.

Q. What do you think about the fans from across the world. What would you say to your new fan base?

AARON RODGERS: Well, first of all, we're sorry (smiling). We wanted to come here and put on a show, win a football game.

The crowd was outstanding. This was just a fantastic experience I think for all of us. There's guys in the locker room that have never been across the pond. Just the hospitality from the fans. When we were out, me and Allen on Friday, was outstanding. The crowd response today, taking the field, was incredible. Seeing the different flags from different countries was amazing. The fans were loud the entire time. It was outstanding.

So much love for Packer World. I think we can say that now. It's been Packer Nation for the first hundred and couple years. Hopefully the team will get a chance to come back and play here again because it was a special week for all of us, one that we'll never forget.

Obviously would have been a little sweeter with a win. But big loads of gratitude on behalf of our team for the fans and the people of London and the folks at The Grove who were outstanding. The food was just incredible. The hospitality was first rate. Big thanks to our European fans. Hopefully we'll be back.

Q. How do you feel about the team?

AARON RODGERS: Yeah, I'd feel better at 4-1, for sure. We got to handle adversity a little bit better. We're a little bit of a roller coaster team at times. Our best teams have been a little bit more steady. We got to find that rhythm, that steadiness.

We got to get back and get healthy, get rested. We got a home game that we'll probably be favored in against the Jets. We got to go back and refocus.

The biggest issue, again, I wish I had the perfect answer or explanation of this, but we haven't played consistent football in all three phases. The margin of error for us in winning is small. So we have to make those plays, especially when you're playing against a good football team. The Giants are a good football team. They're 4-1. I got to make the throws that are necessary. We got to come up with the catches, run the ball, we got to force some turnovers on teams on defense when you get the opportunities. We got to make those plays. We're not sharp enough yet to have a wider margin of error.

Q. The London experience, did it surpass your expectations?

AARON RODGERS: I don't know. I had pretty high expectations I think.

But I would say the response definitely surpassed the expectation. I felt like there were going to be more Packer fans. It was incredible.

I mean, with some of the noises and chants, little ditties they played during the game, it felt like a home game. They played Roll Out the Barrel, which I don't think many European fans know what's hell that is (laughter). It's a silly song we play at Lambeau all the time.

Q. We sing it in England.

AARON RODGERS: Perfect.

But that surprised me in a beautiful way. Again, big thanks to the fans. That was an incredible experience. Apologies for the disjointed performance. I think we're all going to remember this for a long time. Even though it was a loss, it was a great experience.

Q. (No microphone.)

AARON RODGERS: Has there been a lot of talk about it?

Q. (No microphone.)

AARON RODGERS: First, he's not healthy yet, I don't think. I don't really feel like there's a need to comment until he's healthy.

But that's really a question for Brian and his staff. I'm always going to be for adding anybody to our squad who can help us win. Whether or not we need an OBJ, who knows.

But I like the person, love the player. Just want him to be healthy honestly. He's been through a lot the last few years. That's the most important thing.

Q. (Question about the pressure.)

AARON RODGERS: Surprised they didn't bring pressure. That kind of showed us what they were going to do with looked like kind of a TE game there. I was just trying to get to a spot. From the 35, it's still doable getting the ball in the end zone. I was really trying to get to a spot.

When I rolled to the left, the pursuit on the backside, I knew I wasn't going to have time to get enough momentum to get it 70 down there. I tried to step out of the pocket. Felt good about the possibility of the ball going into the end zone before kind of getting rocked.

That's a situation where you're trying to get to a spot. It's putting a lot on the line because they really got to hold on and strain as long as possible. Obviously we just didn't get it off.

Q. Talk about the potential of coming back. Do you hope to get another chance?

AARON RODGERS: I mean, I'd love to. I really would. But that kind of remains to be seen, what year it is, where I'm at.

Q. Did you get hurt on the last play?

AARON RODGERS: Yeah, I got hit in the hand, but I think I'm going to be fine.

Q. How far away are you from putting complete games together?

AARON RODGERS: That's a tough question. The cliché answer would be really close. The actual answer is unknown, honestly.

There's a standard that we've played at for a long time. Just because the faces change doesn't mean the standard changes. That's a hard concept I think to grasp at times.

We hold ourselves to a really high standard. I hold myself to a high standard. We're just not quite there yet. So I trust Matt and the staff and the conversations we'll have this week that we'll clean some things up.

This team, we're five weeks in, and there's a lot of football left. Can't squander any more games like this though because the season is going to be pretty tough.

Thank you, appreciate it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
125672-1-1004 2022-10-09 17:35:00 GMT

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