Rodgers, McCarthy on same page for Packers

[December 24, 2009]  GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- As Brett Favre and Brad Childress squabble in Minnesota, the coach-quarterback relationship on Favre's former team seems to be blossoming.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers says he has a good working relationship with coach Mike McCarthy and enjoys plenty of freedom in the Packers' offense. Still, Rodgers knows his place, making it clear that his coach has full control.

"If you make a check, you have to have an answer," Rodgers said. "And if you make it work, usually that's your answer. But if you don't, that leash is maybe going to get pulled back a little bit."

And while McCarthy calls decision-making one of Rodgers' biggest strengths, the coach would just as soon not have anyone compare his relationship with Rodgers to this week's signs of discontent between Favre and Childress.

"We ain't going there," McCarthy said Wednesday.

McCarthy, of course, doesn't want to get dragged back into any Favre-related drama. But Favre's apparent feud with Childress has been a hot topic around the league this week.

Favre and Childress had an animated exchange on the sideline during the Vikings' loss at Carolina on Sunday, and Favre said afterward that Childress wanted him to come out of the game. A subsequent report by ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said Childress and Favre have clashed over the in-game authority for calling plays.

Both men sought to put the dustup behind them on Wednesday, with Favre saying the situation was resolved.

Meanwhile, there are no such signs of discontent in Green Bay heading into Sunday's home game against Seattle.

"Aaron Rodgers from Day 1, even in his younger years when he didn't play, you always felt that his decision-making was probably one of his biggest strengths," McCarthy said. "He's gifted physically, but we could not do what we do if it wasn't for his discipline and his ability to take in the volume of game plan each week and perform on Sundays."

Rodgers said he feels like he has a lot of input on McCarthy's weekly game plans.

"He's got veto power and he's got final say," Rodgers said. "But I think he understands an important aspect of the quarterback-coach relationship is that he's calling the plays, but I need to feel comfortable with what we're doing or there's a chance it might not work. So if he gets a good feel on what I like, then we're on the same page and I can almost anticipate what he's going to call."

That chemistry showed in the loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday, when Ryan Grant scored on a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. McCarthy called a run/pass option on the play, counting on Rodgers to read the defense and check into the correct run or pass play.

Rodgers said the Packers ran the same play earlier in the game; when he saw linebacker James Harrison rushing instead of dropping into coverage, he threw to Donald Driver. On the same play call in the fourth quarter, Harrison dropped into coverage instead of rushing, and Rodgers handed to Grant, who ran for a touchdown.

"It was one of those things where you hope for the best and protect yourself against a look that you might not have expected, we were able to make a play there," Rodgers said.

Such run/pass option calls are a major part of McCarthy's offense, and McCarthy said Rodgers generally makes the right decision.

"It's clearly a strength of the way we operate," McCarthy said. "There hasn't been too many games where the minus decisions were just totally erratic or uncalled for. I am very pleased with the way he handles our offense at the line of scrimmage."

Meanwhile, Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck -- a former Favre backup in Green Bay -- said disagreements between quarterbacks and coaches do happen, but usually behind closed doors.

"It's not an uncommon argument to have, it's probably just an uncommon one to have publicly," Hasselbeck said Wednesday, on a conference call with reporters in Green Bay.

Hasselbeck said the Packers' offense under Mike Holmgren featured plenty of freedom for quarterbacks.

"There's all kinds of leeway, probably too much," Hasselbeck said. "That was the most stressful part of playing for him was all the responsibility in the run game. But at the same time, as long as it worked, he was happy. That's probably (true for) any play-caller. But all in all, I'd say that, just at least in my experience, everyone is trying to win, and the end result is usually what determines the mood on the sideline."

[Associated Press; By CHRIS JENKINS]

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