On Sunday, Brett Hundley played his worst game since taking over for Aaron Rodgers in the Packers' first home shutout since 2006. The Green Bay QB turned the ball over four times, including three interceptions, took six sacks, and earned just 16 first downs.
Despite the quarterback's struggles, coach Mike McCarthy said the locker room isn't losing faith in Hundley.
"I don't see any of that," McCarthy said on Monday, via the team's official website. "Everyone knows what each man puts into this, what these guys do professionally.
"He's here working out. Everyone respects him. I don't see any issues with that."
The most disappointing aspect of Hundley's play over the past month is his lack of improvement in four starts.
It's natural for young quarterbacks to struggle under his first live bullets but Hundley is making the same mistakes over and over and over and over. Hundley still stares at any hint of pressure, killing almost any chance of making an improv play. He locks on receivers, often deciding where he's going to go with the ball and not deviating when the defense changes up its post-snap look. When his first read is taken away, plays are generally kaput. And he takes far too many sacks, even when given time to throw the ball away -- see the fourth-down plays this weekend.
The mechanical issues and his inaccuracy downfield aren't problems we expect to be fixed in-season, but the lack of mental leaps from the third-year pro must be disturbing for the organization. Hundley's struggles also don't reflect well on McCarthy.
"We're focused on our offense playing differently, and we need to play better, and that starts with me," the coach said.
"The offense has to play to the game plan, and we can do a better job of that as a whole offense. The defense has to build on the performance against Baltimore, and the special teams needs to step up and win the field-position battle and make some plays."
Left tackle David Bakhtiari noted that the offensive struggles, especially in Sunday's shutout, aren't just on the quarterback.
"He'll watch the film, he'll see some things that he'll want to take back," Bakhtiari said of Hundley. "But at the end of the day, we've got to be able to capitalize, we've got to step up -- every position."
Hundley's struggles have reinforced that the Packers' entire operation lives and dies on Rodgers' magical arm. With the franchise signal-caller sidelined, Green Bay looks lost -- no player more than the replacement quarterback.
