The Packers were already in a bit of a slide, falling from 13–4 NFC North champions in 2021 to 8–9 and third in their division in 2022.
And that was before they traded away the best quarterback in franchise history, sending four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers to the Jets on April 24 in exchange for draft compensation.
An offense retooled around quarterback Jordan Love in his first full season under center would seem a harbinger of an imminent rebuild.
However, running back Aaron Jones—a key offensive piece for the last six seasons of the Rodgers era—struck a different tone as Green Bay opened OTAs this week.
“We got everything we need here. If you think we’re in a rebuild you got the wrong team, wrong place,” Jones said.
Thought not as dominant in 2022 as he was when he won MVP awards in ’20 and ’21, Rodgers was still the Packers’ cornerstone last year. His loss leaves a 26-touchdown hole in Green Bay’s quarterback room.
Among the offensive holdovers is Jones, a Pro Bowler in ’20 and a three-time 1,000-yard rusher.
“We’re hungry. We’re ready to prove a lot of people wrong,” Jones said. “We know what people are saying, but everybody has an opinion and most of them stink.”
The Packers—already written off by many in favor of the Vikings and Lions in the NFC North—will begin life after Rodgers on Sept. 10 against the Bears.
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