Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers will go through a lot of "firsts" this season, not the least of which will be at the first quarterback not wearing No. 4 to start a regular-season game as the signal-caller for the Packers in 17 years.
But a not inconsiderable first was last night when he took the field as The Man in Green Bay's opening preseason game, at home no less, against Cincinnati.
To get to the point, he looked good -- even better than his statistics indicate (9-for-15, 107 yards, 1 TD, 1 interception). The interception could have been a completed pass and another pass was dropped. He led drives that amounted to 10 points and got an assist from receiver James Jones on a good catch-and-run for the touchdown. Here are the highlights.
What was particularly notable was the enormous enthusiasm with which Packers fans welcomed Rodgers onto the field. They indicated they clearly understood that the events of the last month had nothing to do with Rodgers and that the kid deserved a chance --and he does. One thing you can can say about l'affair Favre. Regardless of whether you think Packers management was at fault, or Brett Favre was at fault, or both, Rodgers has handled all this with dignity and restraint and tried to keep focused on doing his job.
If a quarterback is measured by the way he handles pressure, in Rodgers case, so far, so good.
