GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers shrugged off a shaky beginning as Brett Favre’s replacement.
In his first start for the Packers, Rodgers delivered two scoring drives and a handful of highlights in a 20-17 preseason loss to the Bengals on Monday night.
Despite spending most of the past three seasons holding a clipboard, Rodgers didn’t show many signs of nerves in his first step out of Favre’s shadow. The Bengals tagged Rodgers for an early interception off of a deflected pass, but he recovered to complete 9-of-15 throws for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Rodgers was greeted warmly by fans before the game, with a significant portion giving him a standing ovation.
“I’ve always felt like we have the best fans in the NFL, and that they would support our team, regardless of how they feel about myself, or Brett, or management or whatever,” Rodgers said. “But it was a great reception when we took the field.”
Rodgers could have had a second scoring strike, but couldn’t connect on a deep ball to wide open receiver James Jones on the Packers’ third drive. On the next play, Rodgers threw a crisp 30-yard pass to Ruvell Martin on third-and-2 that helped set up a 37-yard field goal by former University of Colorado kicker Mason Crosby.
On the Packers’ next possession, Jones caught a dart from Rodgers and ran for a 30-yard touchdown — despite bouncing off a jarring hit from Bengals safety Marvin White that knocked off his helmet.
Rodgers left the game after the first quarter, with the Packers leading 10-0 after a sluggish performance by the Bengals’ No. 1 offense.
