Ty Montgomery wouldn’t talk about his decision to take a kickoff out of end zone with 2:05 remaining Sunday. He left the locker room without commenting, via multiple reports.
Montgomery, though, disobeyed coaches’ orders in not taking a knee.
“The plan was to stay in [the end zone] and give the ball to Aaron Rodgers,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said, via video from the team website.
Montgomery took the kickoff 2 yards deep and ran it out, reaching the Green Bay 20 before Ramik Wilson forced Montgomery to fumble with Wilson recovering the fumble. Rodgers never saw the ball again as the Rams picked up a first down and ran out the clock on a 29-27 victory.
If Montgomery had taken the touchback, Rodgers would have had the ball at his own 25-yard line, with 2:05 to play and a timeout. Who’s betting against Rodgers?
“Obviously the plan there is to stay in the end zone,” McCarthy said. “Two minute. We actually talked about it as a team. . . .But that’s what those games come down to. There are decisions. Ty is in that decision situation. I’m sure Ty was trying to make a play. I don’t know exactly how deep he was, if he was close, but I think we all realize that with the management of the clock and where we wanted to be there -- I wanted to be north of two minutes with the one timeout -- we want to put the ball in Aaron’s hands. You also trust your players. Tough decisions. Close decisions. I think Ty was just trying to make a play.”
Montgomery, who had three kickoff returns for 68 yards Sunday, has 35 career returns for a 22.7 yards average. He has no return touchdowns with a career long of 46 yards.
