Aaron Rodgers has a lot of time on his hands these days, with his surgically repaired Achilles shockingly not ready to go after just a few months of rehab.
With only rehab in New Jersey on his schedule here in the early parts of 2024, Rodgers spent his Tuesday on "The Pat McAfee Show," airing his normal controversial opinions before taking aim at the Bears ahead of their Week 18 game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Despite currently being a Jet and a somewhat acrimonious exit from Green Bay, Rodgers, like most people who just turned 40, chose to live in the past Tuesday by taking a few jabs at the rival he owned for 15 seasons.
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“This is the Super Bowl for the Bears about every year since they haven’t been to the playoffs much," Rodgers said with a chuckle. "This is their Super Bowl. We’ve won – Matt [Lafleur’s] never lost to them. What’s he won, nine in a row? That was a rhetorical question. It’s at least nine in a row. [2018], we got beat by them there when Joe Philbin was the coach. It’s definitely nine in a row.
"Is it a rivalry anymore? If they can’t beat us, is it a rivalry? Every coach that gets hired in Chicago’s first goal is to beat Green Bay. It’s been rough the last 30-plus years. I think a lot of people were like, ‘OK, [Brett] Favre is out of here. This young kid ain’t going to be worth a s—t.’ We had our run and then, ‘OK, this old guy’s out of here. These young guys ain’t going to be worth a s—t.’ And now they’re like, ‘Oh, s—t, Jordan Love is pretty damn good.’"
CHICAGO BEARS
Rodgers went 26-5, including two playoff wins, against the Bears in 15 seasons.
When you boast that kind of success, you can say whatever you want about the former rival you lorded over.
Rodgers did acknowledge that the Bears have been playing good football of late.
Chicago is 7-5 since starting the season 0-4, and is three inexplicable fourth-quarter meltdowns from entering Week 18 in the playoff picture.
But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. The Bears were eliminated from the playoffs in Week 17, but will have the opportunity to essentially knock the rival Packers out of the playoffs with a win at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
After a midseason slump, Packers quarterback Jordan Love has come and looked every bit the franchise quarterback he was billed to be. In his last seven games, Love has thrown for 1,834 yards, 16 touchdowns, and just one interception while completing over 68 percent of his passes.
Meanwhile, Bears quarterback Justin Fields returned from a dislocated thumb in mid-November and started his last-ditch campaign to solidify himself as Chicago's franchise quarterback. In the six games since his return, Fields has thrown for 1,213 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions while adding 393 yards and three scores on the ground.
Fields hasn't removed all doubt, but his performance in Sunday's win against the Atlanta Falcons certainly gave general manager Ryan Poles something to think about on the day the Bears officially earned the No. 1 pick via the Carolina Panthers.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said he would have the Bears focus on themselves in the lead-up to Sunday's game in Green Bay.
But given the Week 1 beating the Packers gave the Bears at Soldier Field, it's safe to say Green Bay will be top of mind in the Bears' locker room regardless of the coach speak.
"We on their ass," cornerback Jaylon Johnson said after the win vs the Falcons.
Like most in the Bears' locker room, Johnson has never beaten the Packers in his Bears career. That's a trend he, Fields, Eberflus, and these new Bears can start to reverse Sunday by ending their rival's season.
If they don't, expect to hear more from Rodgers next Tuesday about the one-sided rivalry. Who are we kidding? You'll hear from him regardless.