Veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers were supposed to face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night, September 12, 2021, at Superdome. However, the venue of the game was recently changed after Hurricane Ida struck the coast of Lousiana. To ensure the safety of the players and staff, the NFL gave the Saints permission to pick a new venue.
Among their options were Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, and Miami which are all situated in the state of Florida. To everyone’s surprise, the Saints chose Jacksonville as the location of their upcoming season-opener against the Packers.
Reason Why The Saints Picked Jacksonville
Citing a report by Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com, Rob Demovsky of ESPN revealed that one of the major reasons why the Saints chose to face the Packers in Florida because Rodgers posted a 3-4 record there as a starter. Regarding their decision to pick Jacksonville over Tampa Bay and Miami, it was because Jacksonville was the most difficult to get to and the most expensive.
"They had a staff member look up Green Bay flights on Expedia and compare the difference in costs and itineraries between Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa," Duncan wrote.
Aaron Rodgers Reacts To Saints’ Reasons For Picking Jacksonville
Packers’ assistant director of communications Tom Fanning immediately informed Rodgers about Duncan’s report. Rodgers called it "useless information" and doesn’t seem to care if the Saints are trying to get a disadvantage in their upcoming faceoff.
“I did hear something, Tom just mentioned actually something about Expedia and checking flights, and if it’s true, hey, good for them, trying to get every little advantage," Rodgers said. "I would assume based on when we played in Jacksonville the last couple times, there will be a lot of Packer fans there."
Aaron Rodgers Looks Confident In Beating Saints
It’s easy to understand why Rodgers isn’t worried at all about facing the Saints at Jacksonville. Even if the venue of the game was changed, they would be facing the same players from the same team. The latest face-off between the Saints and the Packers was held at Superdome where Green Bay walked away with a 37-30 win.
Also, Rodgers and the Packers have a good record when it comes to season-openers. As ESPN noted, Green Bay has won six straight season-openers. It’s the longest in their franchise history and currently tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for the longest active streak in the NFL.
Major Factor That Could Affect Packers’ Performance In Jacksonville
Rodgers and the Packers may not be worried about the difficulty and cost of traveling from Green Bay to Jacksonville, but they should be mindful of the temperature there. Based on Sunday’s forecast, it’s expected to be 86 degrees in Jacksonville when the Packers and the Saints play against each other. Though it’s also summer in Green Bay, Packers tight end Marcedes Lewis, who played for the Jaguars for 12 seasons, said that the heat in Jacksonville is "totally different."
