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Every defense has respect for Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. 49ers defensive lineman DeForest Buckner has enough respect for Rodgers that Buckner has used a nickname for the quarterback’s signature throwing motion.
“[W]e used to call it, my coach from last year would call it the wrist flick from hell,” Buckner told reporters on Thursday, referring to former 49ers defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina.
“He would get that kind of like avoiding rushers and everything and just, you see that wrist flick, and you’re like, ‘Oh, Lord.’ Know what I mean? You know somebody is going to come down with it. Yeah, he’s just a special player.”
Indeed he is. And he’s still special, even at 36.
“[H]e still can extend plays,” Buckner said. “Obviously getting outside the pocket. He’s really good in the pocket with knowing where the rush is at, and trying to — getting out of the way and everything. So, he can make guys miss and also get outside the pocket and make you pay, kind of like Russell Wilson does. We just need to kind of really go, really take it one play at a time and go with the same mindset we had the last time we played them and also last week. I felt like the guys took it personal, telling themselves that they weren’t going to be blocked. We have to have that same mindset going into this game.”
Regardless of the mindset, the 49ers will be facing a much different quarterback than Kirk Cousins this week. Cousins is a statue that crumbles into dust under pressure. Rodgers is the chicken in Rocky II, before Rocky gets in shape.