GREEN BAY, Wis. -- In an interview Tuesday, Aaron Rodgers said he believes the Green Bay Packers have the talent to make another run at a Super Bowl.
He discussed his reasons and a wide range of other topics, including the final moments of the NFC Championship Game loss at Seattle, his recovery from last season's calf injury, his legacy and Deflategate.
Here is an edited version of that conversation with ESPN NFL Nation Packers reporter Rob Demovsky:
Q: What has your offseason been like?
Rodgers: It's been a good offseason. Relaxing. A little bit of travel, not much. A little bit of golf. A lot of rehab on the calf and workouts. The best part is always being in California.
Q: How much time do you get to spend back home in California?
Rodgers: I take a few days [in Green Bay] after the season ends to get things together. I was only back and forth just a little bit, so I got to be in California most of the time. Olivia [Munn] is up in Montreal, so I went up there a couple of times. Went to Cabo. That was nice.
Q: Is Olivia shooting a movie in Montreal?
Rodgers: "X-Men."
Q: Where are you at with your rehab on the calf injury? Do you still have to get treatment?
Rodgers: No, that was the first couple of months. I was kind of letting it heal and doing some rehab stuff for it, but yeah, my body feels good. Just trying to maintain and keep my weight where it's at, maybe go down a couple of pounds.
Q: Where is your weight right now?
Rodgers: I was a little lighter last year. I'm a little stronger this year. With my workout group, I definitely put on some muscle in that group this offseason, so I have a little more muscle mass this offseason. I'm always trying to lean out even more. I came in when I was a rookie and was given 225 to 230 as my range, and then when Mike [McCarthy] came in and [strength coach] Rock Gullickson, at one point my high weight [limit] was actually 217, and that was back in 2007 and it was slightly ridiculous at the time, but I made it. In years since then, they've allowed me to be in the 225 range, which is very comfortable, and that's where I'm at.
Q: Who is in this workout group?
Rodgers: The Matthews brothers, [David] Bakhtiari, Andy Mulumba, Spencer Paysinger, Jimmy Clausen was there sometimes. There's a few more guys in the summertime.
Q: Do you have any concern going forward about the calf injury?
Rodgers: I don't. Zero concern. Just aesthetically, it's just a little bit off of what it used to be.
Q: From what you know about this team right now, what do you like about it?
Rodgers: I like the young talent. It's always interesting to see how the guys take the jump from Year 1 to Year 2 and Year 2 to Year 3. We've seen guys in the past make some huge jumps. I'm excited offensively about Corey Linsley in Year 2 after he played so well last year, and Davante [Adams] after he showed some flashes. He's had a real good offseason, so I'm excited to see what he can do his second year in the offense. Defensively, we've got some guys. Ha Ha [Clinton-Dix] played real strong for us. Great open-field tackler. Made some plays in the Seattle game, so it will be interesting to see how he does coming back and more comfortable in his role. We've got some young guys in the secondary that we have to assimilate quickly. Sam Barrington, looking for him to make a jump as he gets more playing time and a bigger leadership role. And then you always look at the guys who are coming into contract years because you'd expect them to play pretty well. So it will be interesting to see how those guys respond.
Q: What's missing from this team?
Rodgers: I think the chemistry is something that's formed this time [of the year] and in training camp. I think the talent is definitely there, but just like last year, you've got to see how the team comes together. And when the team really comes together and believes in itself, guys raise their level of play. So it will be interesting to see how this team comes together. It's very important that we find a way to jell together the next couple of weeks and into training camp when we get back.
Q: What's the best example of a team jelling like that?
Rodgers: Obviously the 2010 season, when we had so many guys come in and the leadership was really able to get those guys dialed in right away. I think you saw a lot last year with guys stepping up. You saw Julius [Peppers] step up and have a bigger leadership role. You saw Sam Barrington with a lot more playing time. You saw Clay [Matthews] be unselfish and play inside. Those were big for us. And then offensively, you saw the offensive line really take over and be healthy and play really well. So we're just looking for continued growth in those areas. Every team is different. Different guys are going to play roles they haven't played for us in the past. It will be interesting to see how that all fits together.
Q: You were so close to a second Super Bowl appearance last season. What would your legacy be if you never got another one?
Rodgers: Well, I don't like to think in those terms. I'd like to think we're going to get back there and win another one. I'd be disappointed if we didn't because you put a lot into it, and we feel like we've been close a few times and had some good teams and let a couple slip away. So it would be disappointing to not get back there, but I'm trying to avoid that and get back there as quick as possible and win another one.
Q: How often do you think about the NFC Championship Game loss to the Seahawks?
Rodgers: Not a whole lot. Once you get back here, it’s on to the next season. It's a different year. A.J. [Hawk] is gone, and he's a guy that sat next to me for nine years. That's kind of different. Brad Jones, who was with us for a long time, is gone. Jarrett Bush, I played a lot of games with him, and he's gone. It's a different team, different challenges. I'm sure it will get brought up when we play them the second week. It was disappointing the way it finished. I felt like we had an opportunity to obviously win that game at a number of points with just one play here or there, but that's what it comes down to.
Q>: What's the one play or one series of plays you wish you could have back from that game?
Rodgers: Well, the last two series before the two-minute drill. We didn't do anything those two series. Negative run, negative run and then slightly positive run and a punt. And then run, run, pass incomplete [and a punt]. It just would have been nice to stay in spread and see if we could get a couple of first downs to close it out.
Q: Why didn't McCarthy stay spread out and attack?
Rodgers: Our defense was playing so well. I think we were relying on them to stop them, but we sure would have helped them out if we could've just moved the ball. Even one first down would've taken off a couple more minutes.
Q: Have you gone back and watched the Seattle game?
Rodgers: No, I haven't. I usually don't watch the last game of the year. We saw it in the clips as we went through the offseason, but I haven't watched it from play one to the end.
Q: Why not? Too painful?
Rodgers: I've never watched the Super Bowl [XLV] game, either. I've seen it on the DVD they made up about the Super Bowl run. I've seen parts of it, but I've never seen it play one through the end.
Q: What lessons did you learn from last season that will be applicable going forward?
Rodgers: There’s a lot that jumps out. The guys who are the most prepared and the smart football players, you can win with. And you've got to continue to push the envelope as far as preparation with all your guys and with yourself. When you find a good routine, you always need to find ways to spice it up so it doesn't get boring and monotonous. I think that's the challenge of this game, to be able to approach each opportunity as a way to grow in your preparation and see how far you can push it and how diverse you can be on offense and just push the envelope. That's what we’re going to keep on doing. The game has changed a lot with some of the cameras and the microphones. Studying the broadcast has actually become a weekly thing for most teams because you can pick up cadence and audibles, so it's on the offense to continue to find ways to change those and change signals because they're always watching. They can pick up you doing the smoking-the-cigarette sign and they can pick up you yelling "New York Bozo." Everything is out there, so you've always got to find ways to use dummy words and dummy signals.
Q: You've talked about wanting to play until your late 30s and maybe even 40, but have the injuries -- the collarbone in 2013 and the calf last season -- impacted how long you think you can play?
Rodgers: A couple of years ago maybe, but then the last year was the first year it felt a little more difficult to get back into the exact shape I wanted to. I think it's easier to stay in great shape or stay in bad shape. It's harder to stay in the middle. You either get into a routine that works and you stay at it and you're diligent about it, or you kind of fight with it and are always fighting an uphill battle. So the key for me is the eating habits and the sleeping habits so that I can play longer. The collarbone was just an unfortunate deal there. The calf, in my opinion, was a combination of sickness and a surface that they don't want to admit it but it's just not conducive for me whatever reason because I've hurt myself twice on that field.
Q: Let's move on to Deflategate. Has Tom Brady’s legacy been tarnished at all?
Rodgers: In this day and age, for public figures there's often a presumption of guilt before anything comes out. I haven't read the [Ted Wells] report. I know that different quarterbacks like their footballs a certain way, and I think we're all thankful that Peyton [Manning] pushed hard years ago to be able to use the balls we use in practice, and I like my footballs inflated to the high range. It's something that I'm sure people are going to think about. There's been some things over the years that the Patriots have been involved with, but they won four Super Bowls. To me, I think that's what people are going to think about first.
Q: So you'd be against the NFL bringing in its own brand-new footballs for every game, sort of like they do with the K-balls for kickers and punters?
Rodgers: No, I wouldn't want that. The league is able, for whatever reason, to pass things without the players' association having a vote at times, but I feel like there should be a low range on the psi and not a high range. If the ball comes in above the low range, they shouldn't take air out. And that's kind of my problem. When you submit footballs that are between 13 and 13.5 psi, and they take air out every single time, which happens a lot, that's been my frustration. I can tell the difference between a ball that’s at 13 or 13.5 psi and a ball that’s at 12.5 psi, and that’s a frustration.
Q: You and Tom are friendly -- have you talked to him about this situation?
Rodgers: Not about that.