Buccaneers.com | News - Another Challenge Comes to Pass

Aaron Rodgers lost in his first start at Raymond James Stadium last year but will pose a greater challenge in 2009

Print Version

Another Challenge Comes to Pass

Nov 04, 2009 - An estimated 29.8 million people tuned in on Sunday when the Green Bay Packers met the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field. Rest assured, a few lounging Tampa Bay Buccaneers helped produce that inflated audience.

The Buccaneers' Week Eight bye allowed for a little from-the-couch viewing this weekend, and the Packers-Vikings game was must-see-TV. Of course, the Bucs who tuned in were certainly drawn by the fact that those same Packers will be invading Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, but the game had some other points of interest as well.

Well, one big one, really: Brett Favre, as a Viking, making his return to Lambeau, playing in front of a once-adoring crowd that no longer had such fond feelings for him. It would be high theater no matter how it turned out, but it proved to be a thrilling game in pure football merits, as Favre led the visiting Vikes to a 38-26 win.

Buccaneers defensive tackle Chris Hovan, once a high-profile Favre-hunter during Hovan's days as a Viking, actually saw signs of Favre on both sidelines.

"Yeah, I watched it – Brett Favre, return to Lambeau," said Hovan. "I got to sneak a peek at that on Sunday and I got to watch some of it [Tuesday], too. Green Bay's starting to do some great things right now. Aaron Rodgers looks like a young Brett Favre back in his day."

"Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback. We want to give him grief but he is a great quarterback. He learned from the best so you have to expect the best out of him."

Favre may have ruled the day, to the dismay of the Lambeau faithful, but Rodgers wasn't exactly carried away in the wake of his former teammate. He was frequently abused by the Vikings' pass rush, which sacked him six times and left him with two aching feet, but he still threw for 287 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in rallying the Packers from a 24-3 third-quarter deficit. Rodgers also led the Packers with 52 rushing yards on five carries and often made plays on the move despite the hot breath of Jared Allen and company on his neck.

"When you talk about Aaron Rodgers, you're talking about a guy who can use his feet really well, can move around," said Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris, who has staged plenty of film sessions on the Packers' offense. "He throws the ball down the field when he's moving around. He holds the ball, holds it and has a lot of confidence in his receivers."

Added Hovan: "He's running to throw. A lot of times if he sees eight back in coverage then he'll run it out of the pocket. But if he knows you're going to have to the front four rushing him he really tries to rally to find a receiver open. He's very crafty; that's why I say he reminds me of a younger Brett Favre."

It's a measure of how well Rodgers has played all season – despite absorbing 31 sacks in seven games – that he posted a single-game passer rating of 108.5 against Minnesota on Sunday, and that actually brought his season mark down a smidge. Overall, Rodgers is leading the NFL with a 110.4 rating, ahead of the likes of Peyton Manning (109.3), Drew Brees (107.6) and, of course, Favre (106.0). Rodgers has thrown 14 touchdown passes against just two interceptions and he's averaging a hefty 8.84 yards every time he throws the ball.

Five different Packers – including two tight ends and one running back – have caught at least 16 passes already through seven games, as Rodgers has confidently made use of his entire arsenal.

"He's got a possession [receiver] in Donald Driver," said Morris. "He's got deep threats. That 85 [Greg Jennings] can really run, which you know about from last year. Eighty-nine [James Jones] is a great football player, and all those guys. They've got [Ryan] Grant in the backfield who's doing well at running back; they've got [fullback John] Kuhn; they've got tight ends scoring that we don't even know their names. It's unbelievable. These guys are impressive."

Rodgers did not practice on Wednesday but is reportedly expected to play against the Buccaneers on Sunday. On the other hand, Chad Clifton participated fully and the Packers are hoping their long-time starter at left tackle can return to the lineup and restore some order to the pass protection. The Buccaneers hope they can put the same sort of pressure on Rodgers that the Vikings did, and they may have to in order to slow down one of the hottest players in the league.

"Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback," said linebacker Geno Hayes. "We want to give him grief but he is a great quarterback. He learned from the best so you have to expect the best out of him.”

**

Smith Returns, and Injury Updates

The bye week came at a good time for Clifton Smith, who needed a little extra shuteye more than most of his teammates.

Smith had sustained a concussion on a brutal and illegal hit by Carolina's Dante Wesley during an attempt to field a punt in Week Six. Tampa Bay's trip to London followed, and while Smith took the flight across the Atlantic and held out hope that he would be playing up until game day, he was unsurprisingly deactivated for that contest against New England.

The Buccaneers are cautious with concussions, for good reason, and since Smith admitted to some lingering effects a week later, it was an easy decision to sit him down. For Smith, the decision was made a bit easier to swallow by the bye week that followed.

"Last week in London I still had a couple headaches so they held me out of that game," he said. "But coming back this week I feel perfectly fine. Everything's back to normal again so now I'm just ready to go. I used the bye week just to rest my eyes and my head a little bit more. The training staff did a great job with me so now I'm back to normal again."

Rookie Sammie Stroughter filled in well in the return game, most notably on a 97-yard kickoff runback for a touchdown the same day Smith got hurt, but the NFC's reigning Pro Bowl return man was eager to get back in action. Though they are the last team still looking for its first win in 2009, the Bucs are determined to prove that they are a squad to be reckoned with over the second half of the season. Smith wants to be a part of it as his team forges a new identity.

"The mindset is, we're trying to develop a culture here," said Smith. "We're trying to set the identity of what we're going to be about over these next nine games. We want to be known as a tough, hard team that's going to give everybody a run for their money."

The Bucs should have most of their weapons available as they pursue that goal, at least at the beginning of the nine weeks. The team's first injury report of the week was as slim as it has been all season, with only four names, none of whom were held out of Wednesday's workout completely.

Two players have suffered minor ailments on the practice field this week, as cornerback Aqib Talib tweaked an ankle on Tuesday and guard Jeremy Zuttah hurt his shoulder on Wednesday. Both players were limited in practice on Wednesday. Starting wide receivers Antonio Bryant (knee) and Michael Clayton (wrist) are also listed on the injury report but both were able to participate fully in practice.

As mentioned, the Packers are hoping for the return of Clifton, who has missed four games and parts of two others due to an ankle injury. On the other hand, linebacker Brandon Chillar, the team's third-leading tackler, suffered a fractured hand against the Vikings, had surgery on Monday and will definitely not play against the Buccaneers.

Six other Packers were held out of practice on Wednesday, including Rodgers (feet). Also sidelined were Driver (neck), tight end Jermichael Finley (knee), wide receiver Jordy Nelson (knee), center/guard Jason Spitz (back) and cornerback Charles Woodson (hip). Fullback Korey Hall (calf) and safety Derrick Martin (concussion) participated in a limited fashion. Rodgers, Driver and Woodson are listed as starters on the Packers' depth chart.

**

Who Gets the Helmet?

Kyle Moore is not hurt, but he was. In fact, Moore's injured knee required arthroscopic surgery early in September, which slowed down his progress at the beginning of his rookie campaign. However, Moore is fully recovered from that procedure and has been healthy enough not to appear on the injury report for the last two games.

He did not play in those two games, however, which makes his inactivity against Carolina and New England simple coaching decisions.

Or maybe not so simple.

Morris admits that it has been difficult to decide which of his young defensive linemen to keep active on game day in recent weeks. The Bucs have liked what they've received in their rotation at defensive end from two fairly green players they picked up off the waiver wire after the season began, former Bronco Tim Crowder and former Seahawk Michael Bennett. Because the Bucs can only keep a certain number of defensive linemen active in order to keep their 45-man game day roster balanced, it is becoming a week-by-week numbers game for Crowder, Bennett, Moore and even second-year defensive tackle Dre Moore, who can also play end.

Morris said he spent a long time in his room on Saturday night in London, watching practice tape and trying to decide whether to keep Bennett or Kyle Moore active against the Patriots. As he did so, he realized that he also had to give some consideration to Dre Moore, who had been performing very well on the practice room.

"We went with Bennett because he had the mass amount of reps that week on defense," explained Morris. "And I got both of them together and I told them that exact same message…along with Dre Moore. As I was watching those two I had to go back and grab Dre and say, 'Hey Dre, man, I watched these two to put a helmet on one of the two, but you jumped into the picture as well.' I said, 'You've got to continue to practice like that so I can feel good about putting a helmet on you when I get the opportunity to.' I've been really impressed with those three guys, just to give kudos to somebody on the football team right now."

In training camp, the team envisioned Moore rather quickly establishing himself in the rotation at end, much as fellow 2009 draftee Roy Miller has done at defensive tackle. The knee injury put those plans on the backburner, and Moore didn't immediately force his way back into the picture after his recovery. That's changing now, however, as the former USC standout is showing steady improvement during the week.

"It's really been hard for me to keep a helmet off of him, to be honest with you," said Morris. "He's pushing my buttons every week and he'll push it again this week. Hopefully this is the week. His practice habits, his practice demeanor lets me know that he wants to do it and he wants to go out there and put a helmet on. He's really grown up over the course of the time we've been together as well, so it's been fun watching him."