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GREEN BAY Jermaine Whitehead Jersey , Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers considers himself and first-year Packers coach Matt LaFleur to be friends. He also knows building chemistry on the field will take a lot of time and patience.“The on-the-field relationship is one that grows over time,” Rodgers said Thursday after Green Bay’s first practice of training camp. “He hasn’t called a play in to me in a game situation yet, so there’s a process of feeling comfortable with the way the play comes in. Him trusting me and me trusting him. But I feel great about the communication.”The two-time NFL MVP is entering his 15th season — 12th as a starter — and now has a rookie head coach who is just four years his senior. But Rodgers said he has enjoyed getting to know the 39-year-old LaFleur, who was hired in January after serving as Titans offensive coordinator last season.“He’s in every meeting,” Rodgers said of LaFleur. “We spend time one-on-one talking about stuff. He’s the main voice in the offensive room. He really appreciates open conversation and ideas and creativity. It’s been a great relationship and a great start to it. I look forward to that growing and getting into that rhythm with him as a play-caller.”LaFleur’s first season as a play-caller in the NFL was last season with Marcus Mariota. LaFleur guided Mariota to the highest completion percentage (68.9) of his young career. The previous season, LaFleur was the Rams offensive coordinator under head coach and offensive play-caller Sean McVay.Now, LaFleur must find a way to revive a storied franchise that has missed the playoffs the past two seasons and hasn’t fallen short three years in a row since the early 1990s. The real work is now truly underway.“You know, I think it’s early on, it’s Day 1,” LaFleur said. “It’s about us setting standards and just how we operate as a football team. I thought there was a lot of good things, and a lot of things we can work on. I think one of the things I hit on at the end was just urgency from drill. I felt like there was a little lag out there a little bit.”Rodgers felt it, too, and he was picked off by Blake Martinez during a red zone drill.“I felt we were maybe just a tad bit sluggish until the last period,” he said. “Coach actually mentioned maybe we should have the music up that loud the entire practice. I felt like it may have been a little sluggish. For some of us, I can speak for myself, I was a little bit sore from the run test yesterday. But I’m old, so I’ve got a built-in excuse.”Much was made this summer about how much Rodgers will be allowed to audible in LaFleur’s offense. Both have mentioned it’s a matter of building trust in each other. Rodgers said that trust will come as he simply learns what LaFleur wants.“For me Aaron Ripkowski Color Rush Jersey , I’m a visual learner,” he said. “I can figure it out on paper and I’m fine with that, but I like to see it as well. It helps me to kind of lock it into my brain. So the more questions I ask, the more film he shows, the better I feel about concepts, the better he feels knowing that I’m confident in what we’re doing. That’s how the relationship goes.”Rodgers is under contract through 2023, which means he and LaFleur’s deals run concurrently (including LaFleur’s option year).Notes: Rookie S Darnell Savage did not practice Thursday as he continues to recover from getting his wisdom teeth removed. Raven Greene got reps with the first team in Savage’s absence. … CB Josh Jackson also did not participate as he nurses a foot injury. Jackson said after practice that he doesn’t expect to be out long. … RB Dexter Williams did not participate due to illness. When the Green Bay Packers used a fifth-round draft pick on Cole Madison last year, there was optimism that the former Washington State standout would be able to fill an opening at right guard.Madison didn't report for training camp. He put football on hold to focus on his life."I love football, but, at that point, it was my health and my life was on the line," Madison said. "I had to go help myself before my football career. If I didn't get my chickens in order back then, I don't think I'd be here right now."After sitting out his entire rookie season, Madison joined the team for the start of offseason workouts in April and was expected to be on the field this weekend for the Packers' rookie camp.Madison would not detail exactly what had gone wrong, only saying that his issues had deep roots and were exacerbated by the suicide of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski in January 2018."I was going through some stuff for a long time that I was putting off and they caught up to me with the decisions off the field I was doing. I wasn't making good decisions and it led to bad thoughts," Madison said. "Tyler, if anything https://www.thepackersfanshop.com/Demetri-Goodson-Jersey , helped me with knowing that other people go through things, too. It was a little light at the end of the tunnel — light in a dark area."It was a first beginning step of a wakeup call for me, how I needed to handle my mental health, was after that entire situation. Me and him were great friends. I would have never known any of that was going on or vice versa. I had my demons going on and no one had any idea what was going on. It's just one of those things of taking that step when you've got those things and not to just bat them down and talk to someone and opening up."Through those conversations, things improved. By November or December, he said, he began to feel like his old self."After that, it was getting over the hump, that period of, 'I feel like me again," Madison said. "I haven't felt like me in God knows how long and I finally started to feel positive, feel like, 'Hey, I can do this' and no second-guessing myself."With that, Madison began to think about football again; he didn't even watch football last year. He began to focus on getting ready physically. He's listed at the same 6-foot-5 and 308 pounds as he was at the scouting combine in 2018. He called his stamina "great.""I'm ready to roll," Madison said. "Took a year off, twiddling my thumbs JK Scott Jersey , now I'm back and letting it loose."The Packers are eager to see if Madison can reach his potential. There remains a hole at right guard, though they fortified the offensive line with free agent Billy Turner and second-round draft pick Elgton Jenkins."It was great to see Cole back in the building and doing some football things again," general manager Brian Gutekunst said. "That was a really, really pleasant surprise. I think he was very appreciative about the way we handled things last year. We're excited to see what he can do for us because he had a really good offseason last year before everything transpired. Very optimistic."New coach Matt LaFleur is implementing an outside-zone running scheme that is fueled by linemen with a blend of athleticism and power. Gutekunst called Madison an "absolute fit" for what LaFleur is trying to build."We were really high on Cole when he was coming out," LaFleur said, thinking back to 2018 when he was offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. "So, we feel like he adds a lot of value to what we can do with him in our system."Madison's return will be a day-by-day process. He hasn't put on pads or blocked somebody since the Senior Bowl in January 2018.His football comeback, however, is secondary to his personal comeback."I can't remember the last time I'd wake up and feel positive and not go into bed with negative thoughts in my head," Madison said. "Just living life and being happy doing it, it's a blessing."NOTES: The Packers announced Friday the signings of six draft picks, including linebackers Rashan Gary (Michigan) and Ty Summers (TCU), defensive backs Darnell Savage (Maryland) and Ka'dar Hollman (Toledo), defensive lineman Kinglsey Keke (Texas A&M), running back Dexter Williams (Notre Dame), and 11 rookie free agents.