Over the last few seasons, doubts have crept into fans’ minds about Aaron Rodgers‘ abilities. The common consensus among fans these days is Rodgers is past his prime now with concerns about whether his body can handle it anymore. After all, he had a season-ending injury last year. But contrary to popular opinions, Rodgers feels like the hardest part of the game for him these days is the mental aspect as he doesn’t find football as “hard” as it used to be.
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Appearing on “Pardon My Take”, A-Rod revealed that compared to previous seasons, minicamps suck differently these days. The Jets QB reasoned that earlier, the preseason training camps were extremely physical in nature with gruelling sessions in the hot summer.
But as the game has progressed tactically, more emphasis is laid on team meetings, playbooks and strategy. Due to this, preseason now is hectic but due to the mental stress more than the physical.
“It’s a different suck. Back when football was hard you know, a long time ago when there [were] real Double Days… physically it was the worst but mentally, it wasn’t. I don’t feel like it was as bad just physically… now it’s all mental.”
Aaron Rodgers like Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo, and LeBron James among others belongs to a rare species of athletes who have aged gracefully. These athletes spend millions of dollars on their fitness and conditioning. Hence it’s not surprising to hear Rodgers complain about the lack of physical stress in preseason these days.
But doesn’t this fact make Rodgers’ claim narrow? It did make the QB’s claims narrow and exclusive till the Jets star revealed the major change that has occurred in the way teams look at preseason these days.
“You Don’t Play In The Preseason” – Aaron Rodgers Notes The Key Change In Training Camp Evolution
Continuing on the mental aspect, A-Rod further divulged how the emphasis on strategy and meetings has been so severe that teams have stopped playing in the minicamps these days.
The Jets QB noted that back in the day, on top of the gruelling physical preparation, teams used to execute game simulations on the field as well. But now that games aren’t played in the preseason, the physical stress overall has seen a dip.
“You’re sitting around all day long in interesting meetings in the hot days and the practice is short. It’s not even that hard [as it used to be] and you don’t play in preseason… we used to play in preseason right, we’d play like you know 15 plays, then a quarter and a half, then end of the third quarter you know… Now you don’t even play in the preseason…”
It is interesting to witness the league’s progression in protecting the players as much as possible. While the game still remains one of the deadliest sports in the world, the steps taken by the teams and the league to safeguard players is a satisfying watch.
