The Green Bay Packers have seen enough of Aaron Rouse.
The Packers released Rouse on Wednesday, signing Matt Giordano, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts, to take his roster spot.
The timing of the move is somewhat curious as Rouse had just taken over the strong safety spot against the Bengals in place of an injured Atari Bigby (ankle).
In the Cincinnati game, however, Rouse certainly struggled on more than his share of plays, as evidenced by this breakdown courtesy of the Green Bay Press Gazette.
With Bigby out for at least the next two games – likely more – Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson decided the team could no longer afford to have a liability like Rouse logging significant playing time.
Throughout his two-plus seasons as a Packer, Rouse – a 2007 third round pick out of Virginia Tech – was known for an ability to make the highlight play, but also for an inability to stay healthy and be a consistent contributor.
He was solid against the run, but far too often made poor decisions in coverage (and how many times did we have to hear about his stiff hips, which caused him problems in turning around to cover?). If he had shown any improvement in coverage, he might have had a shot. But with the Packers running a lot more zone coverages now, he was going to have to help out more and it just didn’t seem like he’d ever really be able to.
It is unknown as of now who will be starting Sunday at St. Louis. It’s highly unlikely Giordano will get the call, as he is fairly inexperienced in the scheme – the Colts primarily run a Cover 2 defense – despite the fact that he had two interceptions in his first practice with the team Wednesday.
That leaves Derrick Martin and cornerback/safety/bain of my existence Jarrett Bush as the remaining two options as it appears Nick Collins will, in fact, play against the Rams (more on that in a bit).
Martin, in my mind, has to get the call. The Packers thought he was an upgrade, both as a safety and a special teams player, over Anthony Smith; that’s why they cut Smith in camp (a move I’ve never been comfortable with). Well, okay, it’s time to find out if they were right. Martin knows the scheme and has had a few weeks with the team now, so let’s see if he’s a player.
Frankly, anything is an upgrade over Bush, who makes me want to throw up. But you already knew that.
-Chris Lempesis
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