For a team that plays out of the NFL’s smallest market, there is a lot of prestige in being the Green Bay Packers’ quarterback.
There’s no mention of the Packers without talking about Aaron Rodgers. But what makes this Packers team a little different than recent years is Rodgers doesn’t have to carry them on his back.
The biggest surprise is who they’ve gotten the production from this season. All-Pro receiver Jordy Nelson tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the preseason. Young receivers Devante Adams and Ty Montgomery awaited in the wings, but it was an outcast veteran, James Jones, who would jump in to replace Nelson.
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“Things happen for a reason. His path to Oakland to New York and back here is something that we’re obviously thankful for,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said.
Jones, 31, left Green Bay in 2013 for Oakland after a career year. The Raiders released him in May 2015 after drafting receiver Amari Cooper and signing receiver Michael Crabtree in free agency. The New York Giants picked Jones up in the end of July. He spent a little more than a month in Giants’ camp before being released in final roster cuts.
He was discarded by two teams in one offseason. But he got a call from his old team in Green Bay with a need for his services, and he came back.
Now, Jones is the Packers’ leading receiver with 424 yards, including nine catches of 20 or more yards, and six touchdowns.
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“When you have a lot of reps tied with a player, you start to read their body language pretty well,” Rodgers said. “That’s when you can anticipate the throws to a guy.”
Jones along with speedy receiver Randall Cobb and veteran running back James Starks have provided Rodgers’ weapons, but his biggest boost has come from the other side of the ball.
For all that defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has done in Denver, Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers has rivaled that success with tremendous improvement in Green Bay.
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The Packers have the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL, giving up only 16.8 points per game.
“It’s growth,” McCarthy said. “Our veteran players and just giving them more responsibility on the field and things that we’ve tweaked from a communication point. Frankly, our younger players are a year better.”
The biggest jump has come from a passing defense that was torched much of last season.
The move of linebacker Clay Matthews from inside to outside, which began last season has generated more pass rush and improved the Packers’ defense. Matthews and fellow outside linebacker Julius Peppers have accounted for 10 of Green Bay’s 23 sacks, a number that is tied for second in the NFL only to the Broncos’ 26 sacks.
A few young secondary players in second-year safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and rookie cornerbacks Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins have also become an impressive complement to Pro Bowl corner Sam Shields.
Clinton-Dix is the Packers’ leading tackler with 43. Shields and Randall are both No. 1 and No. 2 in pass deflections on the team with eight and seven, respectively. Rollins and Shields each have two interceptions, as well.
It won’t be as simple for the Broncos as outscoring Rodgers.
Cameron Wolfe: 303-954-1891, cwolfe@denverpost.com or @CameronWolfe
