Seattle Seahawks’ cornerback Richard Sherman played football professionally on Thursday night. His team took on the Green Bay Packers in front of a national audience to open the 2014 season.
More from Green Bay Packers
- Packers training camp news: Jordan Love struggles, Bakhtiari schedule, position switch
- Packers: Aaron Rodgers reached out to Jordan Love this offseason
- Packers: 3 free agency mistakes Brian Gutekunst should already regret
- Packers president has unrealistic timeline to evaluate Jordan Love as franchise QB
- Packers rumors: Could Green Bay still address the worrisome safety room?
Well, Sherman technically played football professionally, though his means of earning a game check was a bit unique in that he did not actively participate in any plays. Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers attempted zero passes to Sherman’s side of the field throughout the entire game.
In post-game analysis and hot takes alike, people wondered if a prolific offense like the Packers should ever be going out of their way to avoid any defender, even one as talented as Sherman. On that front, Packers’ head coach Mike McCarthy denies that the Packers intentionally avoided Sherman.
To hear McCarthy tell it, he says that they just executed their game plan and were testing whether or not Sherman would truly never change which side of the field he plays, as has been the Seahawks’ philosophy. From Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com:
"“I don’t think you ever make a conscious decision not to throw to one side of the field,” McCarthy said Friday. “Frankly, it was more of a decision to put Jordy on the left and see if he would come over and play him. They played their defense and obviously they did a heck of a job. I’m sure they feel good about where they are today.”"
Sherman did not move, something that could not have been much of a surprise to the Packers or anybody else involved. Even if he is not actively making plays in a game like this one, Sherman brings tremendous value by shrinking the field when teams do not throw his direction.
Need more NFL news? Be sure to bookmark FanSided’s NFL Rumors and News page to stay up to date on the latest action from the world of football.