Although he stopped short of saying the Green Bay Packers would win more games than they did last season, quarterback Aaron Rodgers says the team will be better this year.
He attributes that to an influx of attitude.
“We’re going to be a better team this year,” Rodgers said. “We’re going to play better. We’ll be better up front [on defense], I think. Different attitude, I think. We brought in some guys with some nasty to them.”
The Packers won 15 games in 2011, but lost in the divisional round of the playoffs. Rodgers thinks the team got a little too comfortable.
“I think there was a little bit of some too-comfortable mentality,” he said. “One of the things that winning does is it masks some of the issues you might have. When you have a real successful season, the little things get swept under the rug and the big things become little things. It’s hard to knock a team on energy and enthusiasm and effort when you’re still going out and winning. But it can catch up to you at some point, and it did with us.”
“We’re going to play better football,” Rodgers said. “It might not be 15 wins, but I think we’re going to be a more sound team.”
That seems fairly obvious from the early portions of training camp. There’s increased competition on defense and more energy from younger players.
With so many young players figuring into the mix the Packers will experience some growing pains, which makes another 15-win regular season unlikely. In the long run, it should extend their playoff shelf life though, which is the ultimate goal.