updated 1:58 p.m. ET Aug. 22, 2011
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay Packers went into training camp focused on doing a better job of protecting quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The early returns have not been encouraging.
Having allowed nine sacks through two preseason games, the team's protection problems are deeper than simply deciding whether to start veteran T.J. Lang or rookie first-round pick Derek Sherrod at left guard.
In the team's 28-20 preseason victory over Arizona on Friday, Packers quarterbacks were sacked four times: Rodgers twice, and backup Matt Flynn twice. Against Cleveland in the preseason opener, Rodgers emerged unscathed while Flynn (twice) and No. 3 quarterback Graham Harrell (three times) were the victims.
Against the Cardinals, Rodgers was sacked twice during the No. 1 offense's second series. Later, Flynn took over for Rodgers and was immediately greeted by a sack as O'Brien Schofield blew past Lang (who was at left tackle at the time) to push the pocket right into defensive tackle Dan Williams.
Schofield later drilled Flynn on a third-and-16 play when rookie running back Alex Green failed to pick him up on a blitz. Schofield finally got his sack on a third-and-13 play late in the third quarter, when he went past Sherrod at left tackle and stripped Flynn.
As a team, the Packers have given up 123 sacks over the last three seasons, an average of 41 per year.
In the five years before Rodgers took over, Brett Favre and his backups absorbed an average of 20.6 per year. While Rodgers' ability to extend plays with his feet is a factor in the increased number of sacks, his sack numbers (34 in 2008, a league-high 50 in 2009 and 31 last year) are still too high, offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44230372/ns/sports-nfl/
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