As the Green Bay Packers head into their third second preseason game there are a few big stories in an otherwise uneventful camp. First off, quarterback Aaron Rodgers may not play at all this preseason. He certainly won’t play Thursday night after working with the scout team all week, and he certainly won’t play in Kansas City in the preseason finale.
So the only question will be will he play in against San Francisco in the preseason game that is usually a dress rehearsal for regular season. I’d be perfectly content if Rodgers didn’t play at all in San Fran. Why risk it? Rodgers has had a terrific camp by all accounts and with this his 11th year in the league he hardly needs the game action.
Rodgers has been hurt to some degree the last three seasons, starting with a broken collarbone in 2013 that kept him out eight games. In 2014 he suffered a serious calf injury down the stretch that no doubt hindered him greatly during the playoffs, and last year he had surgery on his knee after the season. Not saying his preseason playing time had anything to do with that, just saying let the man rest, we know what he can do.
Now to the elephant in the room, Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers and the NFL’s PED investigation. It is perfectly clear that Peppers and Matthews are pawns in yet another power struggle between Roger Goodell and Demaurice Smith. You would think that Smith would get tired of getting his ass kicked and finally do something that actually helps his players. Apparently he is a glutton for punishment.
Smith, who negotiated easily the worst CBA agreement for the players in league history obviously realizes that and seems to think he can overturn everything in the court of law. But he has failed repeatedly and has cost the NFLPA millions of dollars in the process. He agreed to leave all power with Goodell so he has no one to blame but himself.
Now he is asking Peppers and Matthews to accept a suspension rather than letting them clear their name with a simple meet and greet with the commish. It is absolutely insane. I don’t care if the suspensions hurt the Packers, I want to see it happen. Maybe another ugly loss would be enough for the players to give this guy the boot.
This will probably play out like the Brady case. Player will get suspended, judge will grant stay, judge will overturn suspension, appeals court will reinstate suspension. It’s a broken record that somebody needs to take off the turntable. And this is no four-game suspension type deal either, Matthews and Peppers will be suspended until they talk, which could end up being a whole season.
If Matthews and Peppers had any balls and were sure of their innocence they should say “f*@k this shit” and clear their name by talking to the league. Especially Peppers, who probably will retire after the season anyway and has already been suspended once for PEDs. Rumors of PED use have followed Matthews for years but he has never failed a test. Here is a chance to clear their names once and for all and they both need to do just that.
If the NFLPA lets them talk it will be their ugliest defeat yet and I don’t see anyway that happens. I hope Matthews and Peppers play Thursday, because that might be the last we see of them for a while, pending the schedule of the courts.