Bengals DE Carl Lawson says Aaron Rodgers is easier to sack than most quarterbacks
There aren’t many players in the NFL more dangerous than Aaron Rodgers when he rolls out of the pocket and looks downfield.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback’s elusiveness and accuracy on the run has long been considered some of his best qualities, though he’s run into trouble in the past on plays where he held the ball for too long.
That tendency left Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Carl Lawson less than impressed when the Packers and Bengals played in Sept. 2017, when Lawson logged 2.5 sacks against Rodgers.
Carl Lawson is not impressed by Aaron Rodgers
Lawson went through why he thought Rodgers was so easy to take down during an appearance on NFL Network on Monday.
“Honestly, I think it’s easier to sack Aaron Rodgers than most quarterbacks,” Lawson said. “He sits there, and he pats the ball. At the same time, sacking him doesn’t mean nothing if you don’t do it for four quarters. You know, he came back against us. So he’s an easier quarterback for me to sack personally, because he sits there, and he probably gets maybe like eight to 10 yards in the pocket.
“He’s got a great left tackle in [David Bakhtiari]. So, he just sits there, he waits, he waits, getting that read. He gets sacked, he doesn’t get flustered. I only saw him get frustrated maybe one time when I did sack him, which was the third and a half sack that they took off.”
It’s quite interesting that Lawson would bring up Bakhtiari, as Bakhtiari was inactive for the game in which Lawson faced the Packers. Starting right tackle Bryan Bulaga was also nursing a right ankle sprain at the time, and actually had to leave after 47 snaps.
With both of the Packers’ starting tackles ailing, maybe Lawson didn’t quite see Rodgers at his best that day. Or maybe he did, as Rodgers still led two scoring drives in the fourth quarter for a 27-24 Packers win.
Of course, Lawson might have a point about Rodgers holding onto the ball. That could soon change thanks to the firing of Mike McCarthy, whose offense was pretty dependent on receivers getting open downfield on isolation routes and forced Rodgers to wait precious seconds before windows opened.
Carl Lawson is impressed by Mitch Trubisky
While Lawson isn’t the biggest fan of Rodgers, there are few quarterbacks he seems to think of more highly. The first name off his tongue when asked which quarterbacks were tougher to catch: Chicago Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
“Those young quarterbacks that offensive coordinators like to protect, maybe a Trubisky or something like that,” Lawson said. “You know, the guys that sit there maybe five [steps], get the quick read.”
For what it’s worth, Lawson logged zero tackles and sacks against Chicago the same season as the Packers game.
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