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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers has long bemoaned the NFL’s extensive use of on-field microphones -- both for natural in-game sound and behind-the-scenes clips for NFL Films and the like -- but the Green Bay Packers quarterback always viewed it as an intrusion and an inconvenience, not a safety risk. But in the aftermath of wide receiver Randall Cobb suffering a punctured lung during the team’s NFC playoff loss to Arizona in January, Rodgers also would like to see the NFL curtail its use of on-player hidden microphones because of the dangers they can pose. Cobb first brought up the possibility that his injury was caused by the microphone pack during a tour of Radio Row at the Super Bowl, although he did say that there was “no way I can prove that” it was the cause. Rodgers reiterated that theory during an interview on ex-Packers teammate A.J. Hawk ’s podcast last week. “I don’t feel comfortable being miked up, and I will say this: Randall Cobb had a serious injury last year in the playoff game, and I believe -- and he would as well, and the team -- that that was caused by him being miked up,” Rodgers told Hawk. “Because he fell on his mic pack and he had an injury to his insides that kept him out of the game, probably would have kept him out the rest of the playoffs. And the puncture spot was directly adjacent to his mic pack.” Rodgers also said he believes wearing a microphone “takes away from the authenticity of the game,” saying he acts differently when he knows he’s wearing one. That said, Rodgers, who first brought up his dislike for on-field microphones on his weekly radio show on ESPN Wisconsin in 2011, seems most perturbed by the fact that opposing defenses can get a feel for his cadence, snap counts and audibles by listening to TV copies of games. “Yeah, I think it's too much information,” Rodgers told Hawk. “In 2008 there used to be no headset on defense, so the defense had to signal in every play and that was part of the whole Spygate issue [with] filming signals and whatnot. But now you have mics on both guards most of the time and you pick up everything that the quarterback says when we're at home and sometimes on the road as well. “I think that's a competitive edge for the defense and it makes you have to work that much harder with your dummy words and your live and dead words. I mean, that's part of the game, but I think that the access is a little bit much.”
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