Still think NFL players are interchangeable, are selfish for wanting their worth and can afford to wait on their paydays? Aaron Rodgers, Khalil Mack and, yes, Le'Veon Bell should've changed your minds in Week 1. That and more in this week's After Further Review.

Sunday night’s Bears-Packers game was a three-hour master class in why the very best players in the NFL deserve to get paid what they’re worth, while they’re still worth it.

Guaranteed that the NFL owners played hooky (again), and so did the fans they've trained so well.

Who saw Aaron Rodgers grabbing his left leg in pain on the ground, then saw him getting carted to the locker room, and said, “That’s why he wanted that fat new extension, good thing he got it just in time”? Not enough of you. A decent number likely did, only because Rodgers is a quarterback, and if anyone gets paid in this league, it’s quarterbacks, especially the best ones. And he proved in the second half that he’s one of the best ever, bringing the Packers back on one good leg from out of a 20-0 hole to a 24-23 win.

Who saw Khalil Mack help buckle Rodgers' leg, saw him collapse the Packers’ pass protection, saw him spear that desperation DeShone Kizer flip and run it back for a touchdown, saw him almost single-handedly give the Bears that lead ... and said, "That’s why the Bears paid him and why the Raiders should have"? Not enough of you. Not even in Oakland and not even in Chicago.





Too many have been fed the company line about NFL players being interchangeable, rosters pulled apart and rearranged like Legos, that they're all the Next Man Up because there’s no difference between one player and another. They fell in line with Jon Gruden, Mark Davis and the Raiders on Mack.

He isn't just another player. He shouldn't be treated like one when it’s contract time. And when he stays away from training camp to flex the only leverage he has, he shouldn't have his ability, desire or character cast into doubt for it.

Finally, who saw Rodgers' health, game and season in doubt and thought, "Okay, I get why Le’Veon Bell is sticking by his principles and giving up so much to get what he’s entitled to"? Not enough of you. Clearly not enough Steelers followers. Or Steelers teammates. Not only do so many of these believe Bell is disposable, but they think he should be disposable. His belief that he can’t take that beating, or absorb that possible season-ending or career-ending hit, for less than what he's worth was validated by the sight of Rodgers dealing with that possibility himself.

WATCH: Rodgers explains injury diagnosis

Week 1 of the 2018 isn't even done yet, and the brutal, unforgiving nature of this game has proven the value of its best players more than enough times. If the Packers-Bears game and the Steelers-Browns game haven't convinced everybody, Monday’s Raiders game against the Rams offers the next lesson.

But, truthfully, Rodgers on the cart should’ve been enough of an education.

Baffling Bills QB situation

For now, put aside the ludicrous remark by Bills coach Sean McDermott that he had to "look at the tape" to figure out why his starting quarterback was so bad in the season opener in Baltimore. McDermott isn't fooling anyone, very likely including his quarterback.

As bad as Nathan Peterman was in a little over one half, before being yanked with the Bills losing 40-0, this wasn't his fault. You can't hold the ineptitude and inexplicable decision-making of the Bills brain trust against Peterman; all he is, is in over his head, and that brain trust put him there. They've done him a terrible disservice.

Feel free, however, to ask how the Bills got to this point with that position, for a team that somehow managed to make the playoffs last year, and what they plan to do about it.





McDermott is now fielding questions about whether Josh Allen should start against the Chargers at home next week. The Bills shouldn't even be in position to answer that question. Now, it’s not even clear what their plan was, for this season or for Allen, at all. It's clear they didn't want Tyrod Taylor, did want A.J. McCarron, and then didn't want him anymore.​

Peterman was going to be either the bridge starter for a team that’s coming off of a playoff appearance or a seat warmer for the franchise's future cornerstone. He's not suited for either job, though. McDermott seems to be the only one who thinks he is.

Maybe everybody should look at the tape to find out why he does.

Ravens' plan working

Here's who had a smart offseason and managed their fragile QB situation well: the Bills’ opponents, the Ravens. They might not look good enough to win 47-3 again this season, but Joe Flacco looks like the QB who won the Super Bowl for them six years ago … finally. It’s an old story by now, given the microscope the team was under after drafting Lamar Jackson, but everything they hoped the offseason would produce, it produced.

Story continues