As Green Bay Packers mull QB situation, could both Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love return?
GREEN BAY, Wis. − General manager Brian Gutekunst met with the media Friday to recap the Green Bay Packers' 8-9 season that ended without a playoff berth.
Gutekunst spoke at length on the future of quarterback Aaron Rodgers with the club, the future of quarterback Jordan Love, the defensive product and more.
“Obviously a tough season, tough way to end it,” Gutekunst said, “always the finality of it is always kind of tough.”
Here are some highlights from the news conference.
On whether he wants Aaron Rodgers back next season:
"Like I said during the bye week, I want all these guys back. That's part of that. He’s certainly gonna take some time. I think that’s fair. As we work through this, I think as he takes his time, kind of makes his decision just on his playing career in general, we'll get together, kind of move forward that way."
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On whether the decision is up to Rodgers or if the front office has to decide if they want him back:
"We made a really big commitment to him last offseason. As we did that, it wasn't certainly just for this year. He's gonna take his time and the communication will be pretty constant."
On who gives them a better chance to win, Rodgers or backup Jordan Love:
“Well you’re talking about a four-time MVP. So we're very excited about Jordan, where he's at, there's not doubt about that. But Jordan's never played a 16-game, 17-game season, gone through all that stuff. So it's no different than when we moved from Brett (Favre) to Aaron. That's a hard thing to say but at the same time, where Aaron's at, the level he's at, there's not many teams he wouldn't give the best chance to win."
On whether he can envision a scenario with both Rodgers and Love on the team next season:
"Sure. We really like the development of where Jordan is. I think he’s ready to play. I think that's his next step in his development. Those guys work well together in the room. If anything this year would have happened to Aaron, and Jordan would've had to play significant amount of time, we felt really good about that … but yes I can foresee (having them both on the team)."
On whether Rodgers needs to spend more of his offseason working in Green Bay:
"Well we want all the players here during the offseason … it’s optional and voluntary, as you guys know. We invest a lot in these guys and would certainly like them invested back, in all our guys. But you know there’s rules for a reason in the CBA … I know a lot of the veteran players need less of that but sometimes the younger players need vets here as well."
On if David Bakhtiari is his left tackle next season:
"I would hope so. We’re hopeful that he’s kind of cleared some of those injury hurdles he’s had the last few years … I think he got into a really good rhythm in learning (how he needs to) practice to get to the games. And I'm hopeful that as we get beyond this season, that rhythm will serve him well."
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On if Mason Crosby is his kicker next season:
"Again, these are all decisions we'll work through this offseason. David's under contract, Mason's not. We're working through all that stuff. Mason had an astounding year this year, was really clutch in a lot of ways."
On the play of running back Aaron Jones and his future with the team:
"Certainly we expect to have him back. He's a dynamic player … for a guy his size to bring it every day, he rarely misses a practice, rarely misses a rep, the way he leads our team, just his consistency is amazing. In this league, you can't have just one and obviously having AJ (Dillon), it's nice to have that one-two punch. When we first got him, you're kind of thinking 'this won't last long,' because of how he's built and his size, but he keeps defying the odds."
On whether Aaron Jones will play out his current contract or be restructured again:
"The way we’re doing things lately, we’ll probably restructure everybody to make some room."
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Could Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love both return to Packers in 2023?
