“If we’re starting to freak out, we’re in big trouble”: Aaron Rodgers seems relaxed despite embarrassing week 1 loss to the Saints

Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers got embarrassed by the Saints during their NFL opener this weekend. But the reigning MVP is not worried about it.

The Packers quarterback has had one of the most turbulent offseasons for a superstar in recent memory. From potentially demanding a trade, to holding out of training camp and the 2021-22 season, to even retiring, Packers fans have been on an absolute roller coaster this year.

But even though they were given relief with the reigning MVP returning to the stacked squad, the game was anything but pleasant. The 35-point loss suffered by the Packers is the worst in a season opener by a team that played in either the AFC or NFC Championship Game the previous season.

The game was one of the worst games of Rodgers’ legendary career as he completed just 15 of 28 passes for 133 yards, zero touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. The Packers were nearly shut out on a day in which they converted just a single third down. And was benched for backup quarterback Jordan Love with over 10 mintues left in the game.

It was a stunning amount of garbage time for an offense that was the league’s No. 1 scoring unit a year ago and for a quarterback who won his third NFL MVP award while throwing 48 touchdown passes and just five interceptions en route to a 121.5 passer rating — the second-highest of his career and in NFL history, with only his 122.5 rating during his first MVP season of 2011 being better.

Aaron Rodgers is not freaking out about the loss.

Rodgers met with the media on Thursday to discuss the Packers’ upcoming matchup with the Lions. When asked if the team’s panicking about its 0-1 start, he had a very strong response.

“If we’re starting to freak out after one week, we’re in big trouble,” Rodgers told reporters. “We’ve won a lot of games around here, lost a few, but you move on.”

“I think it’s just a good learning lesson for us,” Rodgers added Tuesday about the loss. “We can’t play like that. We can’t start a game like that. Like I said after the game, our energy level was a little bit low before the game. We have to do a better job responding to adversity. There’s not much to say. We got our a–es beat by 35 points. We’re all frustrated about it, but just move on. We have 16 more to go.”

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