Packers Daily Links: Rodgers Nominated for Air NFL Player of the Week

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was nominated for the award that is voted upon by fans until Friday. That and more in today's Daily Links...

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was nominated for the Air NFL Player of the Week. "Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 310 yards, three touchdowns and an interception in the Packers’ 24-3 win over the St. Louis Rams," according to the release on the Packers official website. "His 119.6 passer rating was the highest of any quarterback on Sunday." Fans can vote on the award through Friday here.

The news has already gained a lot of traction, but in case you haven't heard, the Vikings have turned the quarterback reins over to rookie Christian Ponder. "Minnesota is starting rookie Christian Ponder, who has a grand total of 21 snaps on his NFL resume," writes Tyler Dunne of JSOnline. "The temptation to blitz may run high." The Packers are coming off a game in which they blitzed a little more than usual.

More on the Packers facing Christian Ponder comes from the Associated Press, Green Bay Press-Gazette and Packer Report.

A feature article on Packers inside linebackers A.J. Hawk and Desmond Bishop comes from Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "The Packers' most recent victory against the St. Louis Rams demonstrated the symbiotic play between Hawk and Bishop and how it can hold a weak opponent to a field goal," writes Nickel. "Hawk had 19 pressures in one of his best blitzing games, which also yielded a sack." Any linebacker can rack up tackles. It's nice when they're creating impact plays like sacks and turnovers.

In a column at the Press-Gazette, Pete Dougherty says Aaron Rodgers is the front-runner for the NFL's MVP Award. "His league-leading passer rating of 122.5 is fifth best in league history through the first six games of a season, dating to 1960," writes Dougherty. "Ahead of him are St. Louis’ Kurt Warner (131.5 in 1999); Brady (128.9 in 2007); Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper (124.0 in 2004); and Chicago’s Rudy Bukich (123.8 in 1965)." I'm beginning to think Rodgers is almost a shoo-in for the MVP, barring injury.

In another column, the Press-Gazette's Mike Vandermause says other NFL coaches could learn a lesson in sportsmanship from Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, citing the time former Vikings coach Brad Childress didn't shake hands with McCarthy in 2008. "McCarthy took the high road and never publicly made an issue out of it," writes Vandermause, "but there’s a strong probability he used the incident to stoke the Packers-Vikings rivalry in the locker room. There was no love lost between McCarthy and Childress, but McCarthy wisely kept that behind closed doors."

An opinion piece on shaking hands in the NFL appears at the Packers official website.

Rookie wide receiver Randall Cobb answers some personal questions with Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com.

Packers president Mark Murphy spoke at a business luncheon in Fitchburg, Wis. yesterday.

Linebacker Desmond Bishop is cited in a national article on fines in the NFL.

Tight end Tom Crabtree's official website went live yesterday, which included a contest to win a day spent with Crabtree.

The kickoff return team needs to improve blocking, according to special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum.

Previews of the Packers' next opponent, the Vikings, appear at the Press-Gazette and Journal Sentinel (subscription required).

Video: Two videos today, both of the feel good variety. On their off day, several Packers helped build a local playground and visted cancer patients at a hospital...

Brian Carriveau is the editor of the Maple Street Press Packers Annual. To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (3)

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Norman's picture

October 19, 2011 at 10:46 am

"Hawk had 19 pressures..." Can that be right? Bradford threw 44 passes, so on more than 1 in 3 of those Hawk got a pressure? Doesn't sound right to me--did he even rush the passer 19 times?

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Brian Carriveau's picture

October 19, 2011 at 10:47 am

I think it means he was sent 19 times.

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Norman's picture

October 19, 2011 at 11:05 am

So then that's not necessarily an impressive stat. Kind of like bragging that Rickie Weeks had 19 at bats or something like that.

I thought a pressure meant forcing the QB to throw early or at least scramble.

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