The transition in Green Bay is going well. Unless it isn’t.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers doesn’t seem to be thrilled with the fact that new coach Matt LaFleur’s system entails little freedom at the line of scrimmage for the guy who gets the snap.
“I don’t think you want me to turn off 11 years,” Rodgers tells Mike Silver of NFL Media in a story that Silver says is coming early this week. “There’s stuff that not many people in the league can do at the line. That’s not a humble brag. That’s just a fact.”
For starters, it’s not a humble brag. It’s just a brag. And it also may be a fact. But it’s not a fact that has caused LaFleur to changed his planned approach, apparently.
Rodgers’ comment would be an attention-grabber even without his history of passive-aggressive interactions with former coach Mike McCarthy. It also represents the first indication of something other than unconditional and unequivocal submission to the new offense that LeFleur has brought to town. And the decision to make the remark to a reporter could create the kind of friction that may eventually be reported and then loudly denied by Rodgers and the Packers.
But this is how it goes with Rodgers, who often rattles off with a wry smile and a periodic Southern-sort-of accent the kind of dirty-laundry-airing comments that few other quarterbacks would ever make. All of this stuff should be kept behind closed doors, and most quarterbacks approach things that way.
As the proprietor of an establishment that publicizes and analyzes remarks like this, however, I’m not complaining about Rodgers letting us know what he doesn’t like about the new offense. Even if he may not like the fact that people are noticing and interpreting the words he has chosen to utter.
