Aaron Rodgers prepared for his role on 'Jeopardy!' like an NFL playoff game and wants to become the permanent host

• Aaron Rodgers prepared for his two-week stint hosting "Jeopardy!" as if it were an NFL playoff game.
• Rodgers studied Alex Trebek, rehearsed scenarios, and asked producers tons of questions.
• Rodgers wants to become the full-time host and believes he can do it while still playing football.

Aaron Rodgers' two-week stint as the host of "Jeopardy!" ends on Friday, April 16, but he is hopeful his preparation will have won him the job.

Rodgers has been open about his desire to become the full-time host.

He told The Los Angeles Times' Stephen Battaglio that he is "definitely" interested, calling it a "dream job."

He told The Ringer's Claire McNear that he believes he could manage the job while still playing football.

"I don't think I'd need to give up football to do it," Rodgers said. "They film 46 days a year. I worked 187 this year in Green Bay ... I feel like I could fit 46 into that 178 and make it work. It would be a dream job for sure, and I'm not shy at all about saying I want the job. That's how I went into it. I want an opportunity to be in the mix."

Rodgers prepared for all types of scenarios

NBC's Peter King wrote that Rodgers prepared for hosting "Jeopardy!" like it was an NFL playoff game, studying hours of old episodes and rehearsing potential scenarios.

Rodgers himself said he prepared as if it were a game.

"The preparation that I put in is much like the preparation I put in for a game plan, because we want to be successful ... I really watched and took notes on how Alex [Trebek] went about his process, and all the beats of the show," Rodgers told Battaglio. "What was the order of things? What seemed to flow? What did I like as a viewer about how he introduced the categories in the game? How did I like the way he went about the interviews? What made those interesting, funny and special? I just watched all those beat points and really studied the heck out of him."

He told McNear that he would watch old episodes on mute to practice reading the clues and dictating the flow of the game.

He also peppered showrunners with questions about what to do in any type of scenario: what if nobody gets a question right, or there's a tie, or a technical malfunction, etc.

Rodgers shared a behind-the-scenes photo of the podium, which included sticky notes with reminders to himself like, "Relax," "Stand up straight," "Slow down," and... "Don't pick your nose/butt."

"I wanted to be as ready as I possibly could be," he told McNear.

Rodgers got into a flow as time went on

Longtime producer Mike Richards told King that Rodgers' episodes were filmed over three days and that after the first day, Rodgers got in the flow of things.

Rodgers told Battaglio that on Day 2, he got on "Alex time," meaning they were ahead of schedule.

He also got comfortable enough that he began taking some liberties with the show, like changing what interesting facts he wanted to ask the contestants.

"The set producer will highlight questions that they've prompted them on," Rodgers told McNear. "But a lot of times when I read the fun facts I thought there was something way more interesting [than the highlighted part]. And maybe it's just more interesting to me, but that's where I would go."

Rodgers' stint went smoothly and included some enjoyable moments. When a contestant asked why the Packers kicked a field goal instead of going for a touchdown late in the NFC Championship, Rodgers hung his head, smiled, and said, "That's a great question."

-Sporting News (@sportingnews) April 5, 2021

In another episode, Rodgers playfully jabbed the contestants for not knowing the answer to a clue was the Packers.

-Mark (@tole_cover) April 13, 2021

Rodgers may have an uphill battle to becoming the full-time host, given that his regular job would make filming more complicated than other hosts like "Jeopardy!" great Ken Jennings or Richards. But Rodgers' two-week stint also generated more buzz than any of the other guest hosts.

"I respect the show and appreciate the history of it, and also there's my background of stepping in for a legend and their footsteps," he told McNear. "I feel like all that combined makes me a pretty good candidate."