The Green Bay Packers have been here before. At different moments, star quarterback Aaron Rodgers and longtime coach Mike McCarthy appear to not exactly be on the same page.
Their words hint at a certain creative tension centered around an offense still finding its way, while both men then take great pains to say that notion is being misconstrued. Like everyone else watching intently, Packers CEO and president Mark Murphy noticed.
And what Murphy expects is exactly what has happened in the past.
"We've seen this before," Murphy told NFL Network this week. "I think they've had a great relationship. It's just, two highly competitive people. The most important thing, they both want the same thing -- they want us to win and obviously score as many points as possible. I think it's a very stressful environment, too. Highly pressurized."
The Packers, 19th in scoring, 17th in total offense, coming off a dissatisfying win, seem like a team still searching. Murphy didn't deny there is tension. He did deny it was an issue, while noting he has talked with all parties recently.
"Their track record is pretty good," Murphy said, just after the announcement of plans for Phase 2 of Titletown, the mixed-use real estate development west of Lambeau Field. "It's a competitive league. It's hard to win on a consistent basis with all the different issues you deal with on a regular basis. Injuries, etc. Mike and Aaron, for over 10-plus years with him as a starter and obviously the time when he was backing up Brett [Favre], they've been through a lot together."
Rodgers described the offense -- even after a win over the Bills that included 423 yards -- as being "non-playoff team offensive level" and then "not acceptable."
At a separate news conference, McCarthy mentioned that things have changed with the way they do the offense this year, given some new faces, but "Aaron's given a lot of responsibility, and rightfully so. He's earned that, at the line of scrimmage and during the preparation process."
Murphy meets with McCarthy regularly, and also said he's met with new and old offensive coordinator Joe Philbin. He's spoken with Rodgers, as well.
"The most important relationship is between Mike and Aaron," Murphy said. "I do think having Joe Philbin back is a positive in my mind. He's great. And we had great success with him as our offensive coordinator."
Rodgers, who had a knee sprain and bone bruise earlier in the year, was taken off the injury report this week. A sign that he's full-go. Murphy said his understanding was that Rodgers is rapidly improving.
"Give Aaron credit for fighting through that injury," Murphy said. "But I'm hopeful that it's making progress to where every week he's more mobile. What he did in that Bears game...
"It was the stuff of legends," said Murphy, of Rodgers' epic second-half comeback on one leg. "Pretty amazing. We've seen that across sports, the really special athletes, it's almost like when they are injured, they're so focused that it brings out the best in them. It was almost like a challenge for him and he wanted to prove what he can overcome."
The Packers have had a slew of receiver injuries, and Randall Cobb (hamstring) is out. Murphy said he expects to see to see more of tight end Jimmy Graham this week, accordingly, and notes of the young receivers: "We drafted three receivers for a reason."
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