Despite the wealth of experience that many key players on the San Francisco 49ers roster have in facing quarterback Aaron Rodgers, very few would be able to speak on the New York Jets signal-caller in the way Niners linebacker De'Vondre Campbell can.
Campbell, a 31-year-old veteran who signed a one-year deal with the 49ers back in March, has made a few pitstops along the way before arriving in San Francisco, and that includes spending three seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
What's important is that for two of those seasons, Campbell and Rodgers were teammates before the four-time MVP was traded to the Jets. So having someone on the defensive side of the ball who battled with Rodgers in practice, day in and day out, would seemingly serve as an extra bonus for the 49ers heading into Monday night's game. But, if anything, what Campbell had to say about No. 12 kind of served as an extra warning for his fellow teammates.
"He's the best quarterback I've ever seen, ever played against, ever played with," Campbell declared. "His arm talent is second to none. He made me a way better player in the two years I was able to spend time with him ... I think he's still elite, regardless of the injury. An Achilles doesn't affect the arm."
When you factor in Rodgers' widely discussed devotion to his recovery process from the Achilles injury—to the point he was attempting to make a return to the field last season—Campbell's words are right on the mark. It would be relatively crazy for Kyle Shanahan and Co. to expect a subpar version of Rodgers to show up on Monday night at Levi's Stadium just because of the injury he sustained. Yes, even at the age of 40.
Campbell went on to discuss the glaring difficulties in facing the future Hall of Famer.
"He's been playing forever, so you can't hide anything from him. He basically knows every coverage, every scheme, every type of disguise ... Going against him in practice you could never hide anything from him, so you had to take the extra step to try to overly disguise. But even then, it's not enough."
In a more succinct way, what Campbell said basically seems to translate to "give your best and hope for the best," which doesn't exactly sound like the most encouraging approach. But it was also probably the best way to put it. The "kill him with kindness" route is usually the best course of action rather than poking the bear and stoking the fire with someone like Rodgers, who comes off as someone who hears and sees everything.
But, again, several star players on the 49ers have experience facing Aaron Rodgers and know exactly what they'll be going up against, although having Campbell onboard certainly doesn't hurt matters when it comes to any and all defensive game prep.
It's also probably important to remember that Campbell—with or without his noted experience during those two years with Rodgers in Green Bay—earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2021.
Despite that significant note, since he'll be looking to fill the rather enormous shoes of injured linebacker Dre Greenlaw, everything De'Vondre Campbell does will probably be held under a ridiculous microscope. But his past play has proven he's more than capable of bridging the gap before Greenlaw's eventual return to action.
In a perfect world, at least for 49ers fans, Campbell "meeting" Rodgers on the field tonight more than a couple times would significantly help lessen the pain of Greenlaw's absence.
