Aaron Rodgers just loves having beef with his own organization, doesn’t he?
Earlier in the offseason, we discussed various stories from ex-teammates, coaches, scouts, and others that detail Rodgers’ beef with higher-ups.
There were tales of Rodgers “sinking the ship” from the inside, holding grudges that never end, and maintaining an internal feud with Mike McCarthy that ultimately led to the self-destruction of the 2018 Packers (which marked the beginning of the the end of the coach’s run in Green Bay). It wasn’t pretty, unless you’re a Bears fan who enjoys schadenfreude.
And if that last bit does describe you, I’ve got more to offer. McCarthy and all the related disagreements may be out of the way, but the Packers’ new head coach and star quarterback are already in reconciliation mode – at least, when it comes to play-calling – and that led to some shade from the Green Bay QB.
Here’s what his new head coach had to say first, setting up the scene: “We’re running a system I first picked up while working with Kyle (Shanhan) in Houston a decade ago, and we’ve never really had a quarterback who’s had complete freedom to change plays at the line, because that’s not really the way the offense is set up,” Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur explained to NFL.com’s Mike Silver. “But, I mean, this is Aaron Rodgers. He’s had a lot of freedom to make those calls, and deservedly so. Now, how do we reconcile that, and get to a place where we put him in the best position to succeed.”
On the one hand, it’s good to work out the kinks sooner than later. But figuring out how to reconcile an issue within the first few months of a partnership, well, that doesn’t seem ideal.
But it’s cool, because Aaron Rodgers says “the audible thing” is already part of an ongoing conversation, and my … he did so quite humbly:
“I don’t think you want to ask me to turn off 11 years [of recognizing defenses]. We have a number of check with mes and line-of-scrimmage stuff. It’s just the other stuff that really not many people in this league can do,” Rodgers told Silver. “That’s not a humblebrag or anything; that’s just a fact.”
NOTE: Whenever someone has to say it’s not a humblebrag, it’s definitely a humblebrag. Or maybe just a brag-brag.
No one denies Rodgers’ greatness when it comes to improvising, but give the coach a chance, dude. It’s not as if this system hadn’t won championships in Denver or aided Matt Ryan to an MVP season.
Of course, Rodgers’ comments probably wouldn’t have been more than a blip on our radar had it not been for an explosive report that painted the Packers QB in a damning and unflattering picture earlier in the year. But when the shoe fits …
I dared to think we wouldn’t hear much of Rodgers ruffling feathers north of the border. And while Rodgers hasn’t quite reached that point yet, we’re still talking about a guy who reportedly had beef with coaches and was willing to freeze out players who followed coaching game plans instead of his audibles. Perhaps history will have a funny way of repeating itself again. Only time will tell.