GREEN BAY, Wis. -- With throngs of reporters gathered around his locker, NFL Most Valuable Player Aaron Rodgers met with reporters after Day 1 of Packers training camp.
Five question-and-answer highlights:
1. Coming off a Super Bowl last season, the Packers were the hunted. Now you're back to being hunters. What is the message to the locker room now?
RODGERS: Well I think it's just consistency. It's building off what we did last year and understanding kind of the things that happened last year. We went through a great regular season, winning 15 games and doing a lot of things that hadn't happened in Green Bay before and got knocked out in the first round. So it just makes you realize that the only thing that matters is winning championships, and you've got to win some playoff games to get there.
2. Do you like these early 8:15 a.m. practices?
RODGERS: No. I like sleeping in. It's always tough coming from the West Coast out here because of the two-hour time difference. It takes a little bit to get used to it. This year because of my offseason schedule and playing in Tahoe (golf tournament), I didn't get a chance to get out here like I usually do, three or four days early and get a little more accustomed to going to sleep a little earlier. But thankfully the air conditioning was on loud enough last night that I couldn't hear (long snapper) Brett Goode snoring and got to go to sleep and didn't have too much of a problem this morning.
3. The MVP doesn't get his own room?
RODGERS: No, no. I like the old roommate. Brett and I have been roommates the last three years now, and we have a good time together.
4. What is the process like of getting comfortable with new center Jeff Saturday?
RODGERS: I think it's just a feel. It's good to get some live game reps with him. He's done it for a long time, so I don't think he needs too much of a training camp to get ready to play. But I think him and I just need to make sure we're seeing the game the same way. It's great having a guy with so much knowledge who's been in a system that's run some up-tempo stuff before in Indianapolis. I think we'll have a great relationship. I actually got to talk to Peyton (Manning) at the ESPYs and he was asking about Jeff, and I said the one thing, the one regret I have is I wish he was a few years younger because it'd be fun to play with him five, six years. But we're going to enjoy the time we get together, and I think he's going to do a great job for us. We got a guy behind him who's really improved in Evan Dietrich-Smith, and I think he's got a bright future for us.
5. What does it mean to be voted the No. 1 player in the NFL by fellow players in the NFL Network's 'Top 100' countdown?
RODGERS: That means a lot to me, knowing that my colleagues who voted, supposedly, in that deal have a lot of respect for the way I play the game. That means a lot to me because those guys are who we play against every week. Just to know I have the respect of the guys I play against is a pretty big deal to me.
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