"I do not feel like we're far away"

GREEN BAY – Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers thinks the offense is about to happen.

With Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison repairing, the rookie receivers of the team settling in and the confidence of Rodgers himself to start playing better, said Thursday QB's double-best-ranked player, the offensive is about to turn.

"I told you guys from week 1 that it will be a work in progress," Rodgers said. "I do not feel like we're far away."

He made no general proclamation, but Rodgers' feelings are very similar to those of two years ago, when the Packers losing streak in the mid-season ended in misery. At the time, it was the appearance of Jared Cook and the health of the offensive line that was emerging that gave rise to a vote of confidence.

This time, while he was rehabilitating his injured knee in hopes of resuming full-time training on Friday, Rodgers can see the potential for the second 321-yard period and 23 Packers points gathered during the defeat in Detroit.

Rookies Mark Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown become more familiar with quick adjustments, with Davante Adams playing as "a different breed" and Cobb and Allison (hamstring injuries) are back limited to the same. training. Rodgers thinks it's coming. around.

In his opinion, as soon as it will take more than several possessions to regain the pace and that the offense will click from the beginning, the prospects of the whole team will change. Everything must take root from Monday night at Lambeau Field against San Francisco.

"We are about to get things done and, as I said (in 2016), I repeat, I have the impression that if we could make a better start in attack it would make the whole team play with a different approach. kind of trust, "he said." We need to lead from the front in attack and in team, and give our defense the opportunity to get their ears back and put themselves after the quarterback. " -back and make them one-dimensional.

"We must now perform at a higher level, but we are not far off. This league, the difference between being a great team and an average team is very small. It's a few games in every game, and the difference between scoring 23 games and 35 games lies in games we have to play and hope to do, and I'll take a step forward. "

Rodgers' confidence is real, just as his disappointment with the 23-point average of the Packers is real. He did not sit well because the attack managed to get 16 field goal attempts and scored only 12 touchdowns. Their hit rate of 50 percent (8 of 16) in the red zone is tied for 19th place in the league standings.

"We have to score a few more points than that," said Adams, who leads the team with 37 catches for 425 yards and four touchdowns. "We have weapons everywhere. We have a pile in the big reception room. I think young people appeared last week and did good things. We have to put the ball in the end zone and finish the practice. "

The same factors played in slow starts and failures in the red zone – penalties, negative yard games and loose passes. Rodgers knows he has also lost three fumbles in the last two games.

Cornerback Richard Sherman, who is part of the San Francisco team after so many years in Seattle, is another added challenge this week. Sherman returned from a 2017 Achilles injury and a calf problem early in the season to give the 49ers' defense enough coverage to keep the opposing fouls going.

According to Rodgers' vision, the Seahawks "Legion of the Boom" may no longer be together, but Sherman is still Sherman. Adams won his share of last week against Detroit's Darius Slay, and if Sherman does not follow Adams from anywhere, especially when he's lined up in the slot, it's likely they'll find themselves tied.

"He is one of the best players of all time," said Rodgers. "His instinct and intelligence on the ground are incomparable. His ability to read road concepts and break the ball is an incredible asset to the ball. It's a special guy.

"When he's on the ground, you have to be smart in throwing his way. It's just the type of player he is.

But Rodgers is more focused on the type of offense that the Packers may be, and he thinks it's going to happen. In congratulating the Milwaukee Brewers for their current playoff run in baseball, he explained how positive progress and vibrations can reinforce each other, which could also be the formula for the Packers.

"As I think we can do it here, when you just start to gain momentum and build your confidence, it's contagious," he said. "So we have to find that feeling in that locker room and start driving."